Chronicles of the Enchiridion Part 2: No Hope
by GearSolidSnake
Summary: PART 2: Murder. Looting. Chaos. This what defines this grim new world. Yet, there is a glimmer of hope for the town of Twin Peaks. But is it the hope they were expecting? Elsewhere Rigby violently deals with own guilt and the pressures of the Lich. Even with all of this occurring, Mordecai is sinking deeper into the Crown...
1. Intro

**::::ATTENTION NEW READERS::::**

**This is Part 2 of a hopefully 8 part series. If you have not read Part 1, please read it or else you may be completely lost and confused.**

This is a connection story between Adventure Time and Regular Show. **This is not just a random cross-over, this story portrays both shows as if they are in the same universe and will try to offer origin stories to many Adventure Time items and the end of the Regular Show story, such as the Enchiridion, the Mushroom War, Marceline, the Candy Kingdom, and the Lich.** YES, I know there is one major, MAJOR flaw that I have in this set of stories, but I have tried to explain its legitimacy to the fullest extent.

**This story is too large to make into one story so it will be broken up into multiple stories spending time equally in both Regular Show and Adventure Time universes. Follow me, the author (GearSolidSnake), for the future stories after each one.**

Enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Regular Show or Adventure Time, all rights are reserved by Cartoon Network. None of these characters or these items are owned by me.

* * *

Rigby was running as fast as he could. He had just run ten miles nonstop. He felt on the verge of throwing up.

Oh God, what had he done? Don, his own brother...dead.

But there were still worse things to come and Rigby knew it. He continued to run back to the house.

"Just keep the same plan Rigby, nothing's changed. That wasn't your fault"

Rigby sides were cramping from running so much. He took a moment to stop running only to puke.

He finally made it to the Park gates. He took a while to regain his breath. His running was now reduced to a light jog.

Rigby made it to the house. He collapsed on the left outside wall, gasping for breath.

He was going to head for the front door, but something inside caught his attention...

**::YES, the Mushroom War comes soon. It is less than 5 chapters away::**


	2. No Where to Turn

**::Sorry for the length::**

"...Oh my God... Yeah I'll tell him. Th-Thank you for calling. Bye." Benson sighed heavily as he hung the phone back up. He just couldn't believe what he was hearing. The worst part will be breaking the news. Benson usually doesn't cry, nor did he now, but the thought of it was... heartbreaking.

"Hey Mordecai! Can I talk to you for a second?" Benson yelled from the kitchen.

Mordecai's drudging footsteps could be heard as he walked down the steps and into the kitchen. Rigby was still outside, back pressed against the wall and occasionally peering through the living room window. He could hear every bit of their conversation.

"What is it now?" Mordecai asked. His eyes were red head was groggy. The Crown wasn't doing him any good lately.

"Do you know where Rigby is?" Benson asked concerningly.

"Yeah, I think he drove off earlier, why?"

Benson sighed before he said, "Rigby's brother Don... died this morning..."

Mordecai was wide awake now. "WHAT?! What do you mean dead?!" Mordecai got a major headache at this news. His chest felt queezy and he almost felt like crying. He knew Don, quite well actually. But, just dying out of the blue...

"I was wondering if you would be the one to break the news to him," Benson said quietly with sadness in his voice.

Mordecai was still horrified. "How?"

"The mortician didn't give me a lot of details, but he did tell me that-"

Just at that moment, Skips entered through the kitchen door. "Hey Benson, Mordecai... What's going on?"

"Skips, I need to tell you something..."

* * *

"Shit!" Rigby thought to himself outside. "I can't just go waltzing in through the front door or they'll see me and know something's up... Gotta find another way inside..."

He _was_ planning to warn his friends, but he couldn't now. They wouldn't believe him, especially Mordecai. Also, he would definitely suspect something.

Rigby wasn't really much of an acrobat, but he had an idea in mind of how to get in. He walked around to the side of the porch, still on the outside. He got a running start, ran to the wall, jumped up and got a foot on the railing, jumped through the air and grabbed the edge of the porch roof.

Rigby was a little shocked he could do that all. But here was the hard part: pulling himself up. "Come on, you mastered magic but can't even do a fucking pull up?!" He struggled as he slowly pulled himself up on to the porch roof, pathetically kicking his feet the entire way up. From there, he climbed into his room through the window.

All the while he made sure that he was quiet as possible.

* * *

"Skips, I need to tell you something... Rigby's brother Don died this morning."

Skips was shocked. "What? How is that possible?"

Benson stammered, "I-I don't know. All they told me is that there was some kind of explosion at his house. They didn't really say much else."

Skips' mind was already racing. He had been closely watching Rigby over the past couple of weeks. He sometimes watched some of his practices and knew full well he had the book and what powers it was giving him. But Rigby never actually did anything bad with it. Skips actually believed Rigby had control over it. But there always was that lingering fear...

Skips asked intently, "Where's Rigby?"

Mordecai answered, "He drove off this morning."

"Did he say where he was going?"

Mordecai shook his head, "He didn't really say anything to me, but he was acting a little strange."

Skips was getting closer to his suspicion. "How strange? Anything he said in particular?"

Benson interrupted, "Skips, I don't see what this has to do with anything! The poor kid's brother is dead, and this just seems unnecessary."

"I'm getting to my point." Skips replied. He turned back to Mordecai, "What was strange with him?"

Mordecai tried to remember, "I-I don't know. He was rambling about how the end is near or some kind of crap like that. He looked terrified, and it got me a little scared myself. Why?"

Skips took a deep breath for what he was about to say next. "...I think Rigby killed Don..."

"WHAT?! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Skips, how could you even...!?" Benson was shocked and angered by this. He couldn't even finish his sentence.

Mordecai thought about it a moment. "How...?"

Skips said, "Look, Rigby had the book. Mordecai, you know what I'm talking about: the one from Simon's bookbag."

Mordecai was starting to put the pieces together in his mind. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Do you remember how the Crown gave you ice powers?"

Mordecai nodded his head.

"The book is doing the same thing to Rigby, but with something a lot darker." Skips explained.

Benson was confused, but at least tried to understand. "How do you know this?"

Skips grew a little hot with guilt. "Because I've seen Rigby with book."

Mordecai almost screamed, "WHAT! And you didn't take the book off of him?!"

"I tried to, but he convinced me that he could handle it!" Skips replied.

"And you believed him?" Mordecai still couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Benson was rubbing his eyes with the fingers on his right hand. He tried calming down. "So let me get this straight... You trusted Rigby, our Rigby, with an unimaginably powerful AND dangerous book for how long now?"

"...Two months..." Skips replied.

"WHAT?! Are you serious? So Rigby has been running around with that thing all this time?!" Benson screamed. His face was growing redder.

"I thought he could handle it! You haven't seen Rigby do anything wrong over the past couple of weeks have you? Neither did I!" Skips said as he justified himself.

Mordecai shook his head as he said, "You never should have left it with him..." Mordecai was in the wrong himself. He kept the Crown and it even made him hurt other people, but it never made him... kill anyone...

Skips replied, "Look, we don't even know if Rigby DID kill Don. For now let's just find him and-"

Their conversation was interrupted by yelling from outside. It was Thomas's voice. After their conversation, all three of them figured who Thomas was yelling at.

Skips and Benson quickly ran outside, but Mordecai went upstairs. Mordecai was furious. He knew Rigby killed Don. "That mother fucking-... He's not getting away with this..." He ran into Benson's office. He knew Benson had recently gotten two of these, but he only needed one.

After searching through Benson's desk, Mordecai had found what he was looking for. The weight felt a little odd in his hands and he never really touched one of these before. But he quickly grabbed it and headed downstairs.

* * *

Once Rigby was inside his room, he ran into the bathroom. He turned on the sink and took a long drink of water. Running 10 miles makes you thirsty beyond belief. He washed his face and looked up at the mirror. His face looked like crap. He had been through a lot that morning.

He quickly remembered why he was back at the house. He opened up the mirror: Medical Supplies. It was small, but they had a first aid kit on one of the shelves. Rigby took it and put it into his bag.

Toothbrush and toothpaste: not exactly a survival necessity, but Rigby thought it would be nice to have. Into the bag he put them. As he stepped out of the bathroom, Rigby could hear what was going on downstairs. He heard Skips say, "I think Rigby killed Don..."

"Oh shit! Hurry!" Rigby did not want to stay in the house any longer. He frantically opened and searched the drawers in the room. All he could find was Mordecai's pocket knife. He checked the closet. He didn't have any room for any of the stuff they had. The only thing he could carry was the time machine, but that broke months ago.

He ran out of the room, heart racing and head pounding. He could hear from downstairs: "The book is doing the same thing to Rigby, but with something..."

Rigby ran through the list in his mind: "All of our camping stuff is in the basement and Mordecai and them are blocking it off. Food: can't go in the kitchen. I'll find food on the way. Looks like I'll have to make due..."

How was he going to get out though? He could climb up the roof; back down... not so much. The only way he could get out was through the front door. He'd have to be quiet if he didn't want them to notice him.

He slowly crept down the steps. He glanced over to the kitchen. Luckily, the three were not facing the living room. Rigby slowly walked over to the door. He took quick glances at the kitchen every second.

He slowly and careful turned the door handle. He pulled back the door. It felt like an eternity with the time he was taking. The loudest thing Rigby could hear was his own heart beat.

He had the door open enough to slide through. He was outside on the porch now. He preemptively turned the doorknob before he closed the door so it would not make a _Click_. He pulled the door closed and let go of the handle.

* * *

He took a sigh of relief. He walked down from the porch steps. Where to now? The only thing left he could do was warn Eileen. Would she believe him? Maybe...

How was he going to get there? Cart? Maybe, but Mordecai and Skips would probably hear it starting. And if Skip's suspicions got public, then a cart from the park would be a dead giveaway.

It was worth the risk, at least for now. Maybe he'd switch off with Eileen's car... if she listens that is.

_"She's not going to believe you. She'll betray like the others are doing now. It's just you and me..."_

Rigby quickly hit his bookbag in the spot where the Enchiridion was. The voices weren't stopping. The Enchiridion was more of a burden than anything else now. Eileen was the only thing that could stop the book. He knew it would be best that he got rid of it before whatever would take place. Rigby never tried magic without the book and he didn't know if he'd be able to do it with the book gone. But he didn't care about that. He had a gun anyway and maybe things would start to turn around after it was gone.

All this he thought in his head as he headed towards one of the carts near the house. He was about 40 feet from it when his path was blocked off.

Thomas walked in between Rigby and the cart, whistling with his hands in his pockets. He turned and saw Rigby. He waved with one of his hands, "Hey Rigby, what's up? Jeez man, you look like crap."

No no no, why's he getting the way? Rigby calmed a little and just decided to keep walking. "I can't talk right now Thomas."

"Dude, what's wrong?"

Rigby replied, "Get out of here Thomas," Thomas was deeply surprised by this. Rigby was still getting closer to Thomas and the cart, "Get out of here, right now."

Thomas didn't move. Something in his gut told him not to move.

"If you know what's best for you, you'll get the hell out of here!" Rigby said. It didn't work, Thomas was still blocking his path to the cart.

"What the hell is going on with you?!" Thomas almost screamed. He never thought of Rigby as 'tough,' but what was being said was starting to scare him a little.

Rigby was getting angrier. There was no way of getting to the cart without hurting Thomas. He had to stop himself. He wasn't going to let Thomas end up like Don. Rigby frustratingly shook his head and turned away. He had to get out anyway. Rigby's hunches were flaring up again, "_Skips and Benson are__ coming."_

Rigby quickly walked off. He was going to have to travel out on foot. Eileen's apartment was on the other side of town, too far to walk. He'd have to settle for someplace closer.

Rigby could hear Skips and Benson opening the house door behind him. He just kept walking.

"Rigby!" Benson screamed to him. Rigby didn't stop. "RIGBY!" He yelled again, this time louder. Again Rigby didn't stop moving.

"We know about Don." Skips said. At this Rigby stopped moving. "You've gone too far this time, Rigby! Give me the book."

Rigby turned around. His eyes were ridden with guilt. His hands were shaking from nervousness.

"Just give me the book Rigby! We'll deal with this as delicately as we can, just give us the book!" Skips pleaded.

Rigby looked down for a moment, thinking everything over. He turned back to Skips, "I really wish I could Skips...but I can't. Not anymore"

"This is for your own good Rigby," Benson spoke this time, "We can't let you hurt anyone else, not like Don-"

"**THAT WASN'T MY FAULT!"** Rigby screamed in anger. He threw his arms at his sides. Bright green flames emitted from his palms. Everyone except for Skips took a step back.

Skips asked, "I'm only going to ask this once: Give me the book!"

Rigby looked on with a stern face. He simply shook his head 'no.'

Skips began to skip towards Rigby in his usual fashion. But he much more serious than Rigby had ever seen him.

Rigby panicked. "Stay Back! Just let me go" Rigby yelled. His flames in his hands grew brighter. Skips still grew closer.

In a panic, Rigby screamed as he hurled one of his fireballs in Skip's direction. It exploded a few feet in front of Skips. The explosion pushed him back a few feet. Skips was still on his feet. Again he kept getting closer to Rigby, a little faster now.

Rigby hurled the fire ball in his right hand at a curve. It came at Skip's side and exploded right next to him. It lifted Skips off his feet and threw him to the ground.

Skips was in pain. The left side of his body was a little burnt.

"SKIPS!" Benson screamed. Thomas and Benson both ran to Skip's direction.

Just then, Rigby threw flames from his hand so that it made a wall between Skips and the others. Rigby now started to walk towards Skips, flames at his sides. Anger was written all over Rigby's face. The Enchiridion urged Rigby on, like it did with Don. Except this time, it let Rigby do it himself.

Rigby was now only a few feet from Skips. He raised his right arm, fireball in hand. Rigby closed his eyes, preparing himself to kill Skips...

Rigby's hunches flared up, they told him: Left Side, Shield Wall. Rigby quickly turned and put up a shield wall. A bullet quickly ricocheted off of it.

The gunshot was loud and it startled everyone.

It was Mordecai, holding Benson's Glock pistol, smoke coming from the barrel. Mordecai's eyes were intent on Rigby.

Rigby looked down at what was left of the fire. Then he looked at saw Skips slowly trying to get up. Guilt ran through Rigby. _"Just like Don..."_ the book said.

Rigby quickly turned and ran off, leaving the park and everyone in it behind him. For good.

* * *

Mordecai ran back inside, still holding the gun. He ran to his closet and grabbed the Crown off the shelf. He was going to need it. Before he left, he went back into his room. In his dresser was a metal canteen full of Gin. He took the lid off and took a quick, yet large gulp of the alcohol. It felt good going down. He felt like he needed that shot for what he was going to do next.

Mordecai walked back outside, gun in one hand and his crown in the other. Benson was helping Skips up. He turned to Mordecai and was shocked. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Mordecai began walking to the cart. He coldly said, "I'm going to kill Rigby."

This alarmed both Benson and Skips. Skips looked down to see the Crown in Mordecai's hands: "You kept the Crown?! Mordecai, do you know what on earth you are doing?!"

Mordecai didn't respond as he got into the cart.

"Mordecai, if you leave here, you're not allowed back!" Benson said. It didn't work. Mordecai put his key in the ignition and started the cart. Benson said again, "Have you learned nothing from what just happened? Mordecai I can't let you do this!"

Mordecai turned to his boss, "Then fire me! Do what ever the hell you want, but I am not letting Rigby hurt anyone else!" Mordecai drove off.

* * *

Rigby was at one of the phone booths on the sidewalk. He didn't have a phone. His call would have to be quick. He felt to exposed on the sidewalk, especially if someone from the park happened to drive by.

Rigby quickly inserted the quarters and dialed the number. He knew it off by heart. The phone was ringing now. "Come on, Come on pick up already!"

Behind the phone booth was the old TV shop. They always had TVs in the window, usually showing the news or something of that sort. The broadcast they were playing in particular caught Rigby's attention.

It was a young news woman. The picture next to her was all too familiar. "Tragedy this morning as a house explosion took the life of..."

"Hello?" Came from the phone.

Rigby spoke into the phone, "Eileen, it's me Rigby. Listen, I don't have much time to explain," Rigby's eyes were darting up and down the street, "but I need you to meet me at the Cafe. Now."

"Alright, but what's wro-?"

Rigby hung up. He quickly ran into one of the alleys. He'd have to take every back way he could to get there.

It was just in the nick of time as Mordecai drove down that exact same street. He saw Rigby's shadow as it went through the alley. Mordecai couldn't drive down the alley. He got out and ran down the alley on foot. When he got to the corner: nothing. No Rigby.

"If I were Rigby, where would I go?" Mordecai thought to himself. "Well he doesn't have anyone left to turn to except for... Eileen... The coffee shop!"

Mordecai headed back into the cart and drove off.


	3. The Lich

**:: PARDON THE LENGTH, AGAIN::**

What on earth was he thinking, not even Rigby know. He was risking everything, even Eileen's safety, just over a hunch. Oh but this was unlike any hunch he felt before. He was much more sure of it than anything else. And whatever it was, he had to be ready, which meant he couldn't have the Enchiridion bringing him down. However, Rigby had no idea if he could still use magic with it gone. But he could not afford to have the book feeding off of him, taking control, causing him to...

Rigby almost cried again at the thought of what had happened earlier. "It's not your fault Rigby, just shake it off. There was nothing you could do, you had no part in that," Rigby thought to himself reassuringly.

"_Oh, but how much of that was me? You had a greater part in it than I. I didn't kill Don... you did."_

Rigby just had to shake the book off. Eileen better get here soon...

* * *

Rigby was waiting in the cafe (the far side where Mordecai and Rigby were usually seen hanging out), for what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes. It was a good choice, meeting her on a Sunday. The shop was never open on Sundays.

Finally, Eileen came through the door. She was nervous, and almost scared to see Rigby there in his condition. Rigby hadn't noticed his shaking hands, his weary-ridden eyes, his nervous voice, but Eileen noticed it. She noticed everything that was wrong with him.

"Rigby, what is this ab-"

"Eileen, we have to leave." Rigby interrupted.

Eileen took this as a shock. It was too abrupt, and Rigby's emotion didn't help. "What do you mean?"

"Look, don't ask me how but something bad, something _really _bad is going to happen here. And we need to be as far away from this place as possible."

Eileen was terrified now, "Rigby I heard. Is it true...what happened to your brother?"

"**That wasn't my fault!** I- it, ..." He had to spill the beans, he had to let her finally know. He pulled the Enchiridion out. "Whatever is in this book, whatever it's trying to do, it made m-..._IT_ killed Don!  
He was beginning to stutter as he fantically spoke: "It's magic and I-I've been learning magic from it! But it's evil and-and it's been taking me over and I can't stop it!" Rigby was at the point of tears now, even though Rigby didn't notice it, so was Eileen. He held her hand, "But everytime I'm with you, I can put it down, I can let it go. It doesn't have any control over me when you're around. You're the only thing that can save me from it!"

Eileen, still confused and petrified, "Rigby, what are you trying to say?" She was getting ready to run if she needed to. Rigby was dangerous, and she was not willing to take any risks or she might end up like Don. Rigby was shaking, his speech was quick. Eileen was not waiting any longer.

She started to get up to leave, but Rigby stepped in front of her, blocking her path, grabbed on to her arm, and said...

"Eileen... I... I love you. I love you, I love you I love you, I've been such a fool all these years but I love you! This is why I'm telling you this, whatever is going to happen, I don't want you to be a part of it!" He not only let go of the Enchiridion at this point, but he was able to completely toss it into the back corner of the cafe. He was ready to leave it there forever if he had to.

Rigby had said it. That was all Eileen needed to hear, all she wanted to hear ever since she met him. Rigby LOVED her. She wasn't afraid anymore... She was ready to take off with him. Ready to live in the country, start a new life, whatever convoluted schemes Rigby was planning, she was willing to go through with it, every step of the way. They say 'Love is blind,' well in this case it couldn't be any more true. Yes, Rigby seemed crazy, but He loved Eileen, and that was all that mattered.

"I love you too Rigby"

"...do you trust me?" Rigby asked her. She nodded her head confidently, and with a smile. "Then come with me. We can leave this all behind! I love you"

This time Rigby leaned in and kissed her. This wasn't like the previous one. This was the REAL deal. This was the kind of kiss you remember 20, 30, even 40 years into the future. It was long, and intimate. This wasn't the kind of kiss phony high schoolers had, this was THE kiss, the one of un-dying true love.

* * *

Mordecai knew it had to be done, but he didn't like a part of it. Rigby was his best friend, had been since grade school. Rigby was the only thing he had in terms of a brother. But after what Rigby had done, he knew he could not let it go on. How long before he killed another? Who's next? Mordecai knew what had to be done, He knew it ever since he saw the fire in his eyes when they fought. And what happened to Don and just now confirmed it even more.

Mordecai had to kill Rigby...

He had driven up to the cafe. He didn't park in front of it, he was on the other side of the street a little further down the block. He saw Eileen go in. "I am not going to let you take her too" Mordecai thought to himself. He had to act NOW, it may only be a few minutes or even a few seconds before something happened. He got out of the cart, leaving the Crown in the passenger's seat.

Mordecai slowly walked up to the cafe... he pulled out his Glock, pulled back the slide so that there was a bullet in the chamber, and turned the safety off... He walked into the entrance of the cafe and saw the back of Rigby, kissing Eileen.

This disheartened Mordecai immensely Why did it have to be like this? With her here? Too tragic... Why couldn't it just be only Rigby and him? The couple almost reminded Mordecai of himself with Margaret... But that didn't stop him, he knew what needed to happen. He was going to do it, with or without Eileen here. He built up his mental state for what he needed to be done. He took deep breaths, wiped his face, and cleared his mind.

Ever since he started kissing Eileen, Rigby had an odd feeling. It was another one of those hunches, almost as bad as the one before it. He felt it in his shoulder, in his spine, into his ribs. Something was horribly wrong.

Mordecai raised the gun, aiming for Rigby's back. Rigby knew what was up, he didn't even have to turn around to know what was up. He could feel Mordecai's anger and pain without even needing to see it on his face.

"Eileen get down!" Mordecai and Rigby both seemed to scream.

Mordecai fired, but Rigby was quicker and more prepared than that. He had already made a shield and blocked the bullet before it could reach him.

Mordecai fired again, and again, and again; each time Rigby blocked the shots. Rigby was lost, terrified, confused. Why? Why Mordecai? He felt himself becoming enraged. His best friend betraying him, his life long brother? No, how dare he, How dare he! The Enchiridion fueled his anger even more.

Just then, a bullet ricochet from the shield into Eileen's right arm. She fell to the ground with a painful scream. That was all he needed... Rigby had snapped. He screamed as hurled a fireball in Mordecai's direction. Mordecai was quick though, he flipped the table in front of him just in time. But the fireball still broke the table, sending Mordecai flying into the wall. He dropped the gun, now looking at Rigby, terrified.

Rigby was screaming now, this was the angriest he had ever been. These were the only times _IT_ had power over him: when he was angry and when he willfully let him in. Rigby could feel _IT_ invading, creeping into his head. The Enchiridion rose into the air on its own and floated back to Rigby. It ignited with its similar glow from earlier.

Rigby, grasping onto his skull, screamed "GET OUT OF MY HEAD! _Let Me IN!"_ both different voices seemed to come from the same mouth. The pain was unbearable, oh God it hurt! It hurt more than any thing on earth. Last time Rigby was unconcious for it, but this time, this time was different...

It was inevitable now, There was no stopping the intrusion. Rigby turned to his lover. "Eileen...run..." Then he screamed as he collapsed onto the ground. This time _IT _couldn't completely shut Rigby out, it couldn't send Rigby to the _Abyss;_ this time Rigby would watch, all of it. _HE_ had control, but Rigby would remember the possessions from now on.

Rigby stood up slowly with the Enchiridion floating overhead, with a bright green fiery glow. His back was facing the others.

Eileen reached out to him, "R-Rigby?"

The voice was not Rigby's, it was darker, more sinister in nature. "_There is no Rigby... only, **The**** Lich!" **_He had turned around now. The eyes, they were not Rigby's eyes anymore, the were deep, black pits with single green pupils in the centers. (If you want to know what he looks like, scroll up and look at the cover picture)

**::Whenever Rigby becomes possessed, I usually play a song from Youtube in another tab to accompany it. I prefer "Nemesis" from the Halo 4 soundtrack (should be ~3:30 long) (Disclaimer: "Nemesis" is owned by 343 Industries and Microsoft as well as Halo 4) Skip to the 1:40 mark for the desired effect, only if you want to though::**

"EILEEN GET DOWN!" Mordecai grabbed his gun and fired once again at the devil inside Rigby. The Lich had no problem countering these mere scraps of metal. And almost seemed to laugh at Mordecai's futile attempts.

The walls of the cafe soon began to break and float. Rigby couldn't levitate objects... but the Lich could. By now everything that wasn't attached to the floor (except for Mordecai and Eileen) began to float and orbit in a ball like form around Lich Rigby.

At that point, Reality _Itself_ seemed to break and spin around the devilish entity, molding and deforming the world around them. This was THE spell. It could only be performed once and only with the Enchiridion's energy fueling it. Next thing they knew, all that was remaining was the floor of the cafe, floating around in the _Abyss_.

Rigby now re-directed his attention back to Mordecai. When Mordecai looked at Rigby, everything surrounding Rigby was at once hurled into Mordecai's direction, sending him flying backwards.

Mordecai barely grabbed the edge of the floor, his feet dangling over the dark nothingness. Mordecai was fearing his for his soul at this point. He was almost whimpering as Rigby slowly began to walk towards him.

Eileen suddenly grabbed Rigby's arm "Stop this right now!" The Lich simply shoved her aside and continued walking. "I know you're in there Rigby snap out of it! Please!"

...That actually gave the Lich a more sinister idea. He knew Rigby was watching everything the Lich was doing, fighting his way to retake his body. Oh the suffering that boy will feel...

The demon now changed his target, grabbing Eileen by the neck and dragged her over to the edge of the floor and held her out over the nothingness. Her necklace now wrapped around Rigby's fist. "Don't do this Rigby, please..." she managed to croak out as she could feel the Lich slowly choking her.

"EILEEN! RIGBY, DON'T!" Mordecai screamed as he attempted to pull himself back up. "Do something Mordecai, you have to stop this!" but unfortunately there was nothing Mordecai could do at this point except watch.

The Lich would make Rigby suffer.

The Lich let her go, but to make the game more fun, he allowed Rigby to re-take his body JUST as his grip loosened.

At once, Rigby's eyes returned to normal and saw full well what was happening. "EILEEN!" he screamed as he almost fell to the ground to catch her. He had missed her hand by inches. "NOOOOOO!"

It was no use. Eileen fell...down...down...down into the _Abyss_.

With the Lich's power wearing off, piece by piece reality was restored. Mordecai and Rigby were now sitting in the ruined cafe; no walls, no roof, no tables, and no Eileen. All that was left of her in the world of the living was the necklace Rigby held in his hand.

Rigby was frantic now, he was beyond crying. He said her name over and over, screaming "No!" "Eileen!" Each sob, piercing to the ear. This was worse, much worse than Don's demise.

Mordecai couldn't hold back the grief as he himself let out tears. He turned his head to inspect his weapon. The gun was out of bullets, useless for the time being.

He turned his attention back to Rigby. Rigby was locked-eye with Mordecai now. "You did this, YOU DID THIS!" Rigby frantically screamed.

Mordecai replied coldly, "You brought this on yourself Rigby, look what you've do-"

"Look what I've done?! LOOK WHAT I'VE DONE!? If it wasn't for you, she would still be here right now! I was letting go of the book because of her! Then you come and YOU JUST DESTROY EVERYTHING!"

Mordecai, now feeling more guilty then ever, said apologetically, "Rigby, I-I'm sorry..." He knew he was right, it was really Rigby's fault, but the look on Rigby's face destroyed his conscious.

Police sirens could be heard in the distance, it was obvious what they were coming for.

Rigby had turned back to the spot where Eileen _should _have been. "Get out..." He turned back to Mordecai, swinging his arm out sending flames shooting into the ground, "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

Mordecai picked up his gun, turned back to the lamenting Rigby one last time, then left, without another word.

The sirens were getting closer, there was no easy way out of this. Rigby dried his tears, grabbed the Enchiridion, his only friend now, and prepared for a fight...

* * *

**::Yes, I know, extremelly dark, but tell what you guys think. New chapter soon.::**


	4. On the Run

**::Again, sorry for the length. I think each chapter is just going to be longer now. And sorry, it may take a little longer for new chapters. Also, sorry if this chapter seems...sloppy...::**

After Mordecai left, Rigby grabbed the Enchiridion. It was steaming. The Enchiridion could enhance magic, but like Rigby, it could only take so much.

Rigby was wincing with pain. His sides were burning and his body felt like it was on fire. He looked and saw that small streams of steam were coming from his arms. Rigby hadn't been burned from over using magic since his second day. It was too strange, but Rigby didn't really think about it that hard, he had bigger problems.

The police sirens got closer.

Rigby put the Enchiridion into his bag. He was still enraged over what happened. Something, somebody had to pay. He reached for his pistol, but then he looked down at Eileen's necklace still in his hand. "No no, I can't hurt anyone. Eileen wouldn't want that of me." On top of that, Rigby didn't know if his conscience could take anymore.

Rigby put his gun back into his bag as well as Eileen's necklace.

Police cars were coming down the street. They were called that _something_ happened, but they still had no idea what. Three of the cars parked sideways in front of the destroyed coffee shop. The officers in them got out on the side opposite that of the cafe and pointed their guns over the hood of the cars towards Rigby. They were told there was a report of gunshots and they assumed Rigby was the culprit._  
_

"Hands behind your head, and got down on your knees." One of the officers called towards Rigby. Rigby didn't move, he still stood straight up facing the cops.

Rigby's eyes were darting every possible escape route. The tough question was getting out without killing anyone. Could he at least hurt them but not kill them?

Rigby was thinking all of this over while the cops still had their guns pointed at him. Rigby had to act now.

"Last warning hands behind your head and get on your knees!" the same cop yelled.

Rigby flicked his wrists downward and made flames in his hands. "Holy shit!" one of the cops screamed. Rigby then sent out a jet of flames towards the direction of the police. The flames, Rigby made sure, were well over the cops' heads. But this still made the officers duck in cover behind their cars.

Rigby then swung both of his arms from his sides outward and created a wall of flames between Rigby and the police. With this, Rigby ran back in the cafe.

He ran out the back door into the alley. He ran further down the alley. Dammit! There was a chain-link fence in his way. Rigby turned around to go the other way but three cops came running around the corner of the alley.

He turned back to the chain fence. He sent a green fireball at the lower part of the fence as he ran towards it. The explosion blew off the lower half of the fence.

Gunshots rang out behind Rigby. Rigby performed a baseball type slide under the fence. Bullets were whizzing over his head. Rigby made a small magic shield from his hand as he ran, blocking the shots.

He turned down another alley to find a small parking lot. He spotted an old Cadillac (1979 to be exact). He ran over to the car and made a key out of plasma. He opened the door, made another key, and started the car.

He drove out of the parking lot into the street. He could hear the sirens of police cars behind him. "Nothing's changed Rigby, just get out of the City" He thought to himself as he started to drive off.

The cop cars drove up behind him. Rigby slammed on the gas as his Cadillac made it all the way to 70 mph. Adrenaline pumped through Rigby's body. His hunches flared up. Ahead was several cop cars parked in a V formation on the street, blocking Rigby's path.

Rigby jutted the wheel to the left and drove on the sidewalk and narrowly passed the cars (but not before scraping the Cadillac off of the corner of the cop cars) He had to make this maneuver several more times to get out of the city.

Rigby's hunches guided him every step of the way, telling him whether to turn right, left, speed up; Rigby listened to each one without question. And each one saved his life.

A helicopter flew over head and began to trail Rigby. He made a sharp turn right and drove onto the highway, with the cops blazing after him.

* * *

"...Listen I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I've survived worse," Skips said to Thomas. Skips had burns up the left side of his body. They weren't bad, but they still scared Thomas. Thomas was still a little new to everything that usually happens at the park. But what happened here was a complete shock to Thomas.

Thomas nervously nodded and walked back into the house. In the kitchen, Benson had an unofficial meeting with Pops, Muscle Man, and HFG. Benson broke the news of what happened so far that morning. It was tough, but the others began to understand what happened.

Thomas had to at least try to calm himself down. He timidly sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV.

"Thomas, really? Now is not the time! Could you turn that off?!" Benson yelled from the kitchen.

Thomas didn't listen. The news caught his entire attention.

"Thomas, turn the TV off!"

Thomas called for the others, "Hey guys, I think you're gonna want to see this..."

Benson walked in with the others saying, "This better be go-..."

The news showed a brown car driving quickly down the highway with several cop cars in pursuit. It was swerving past the other cars on the road. The video was a bird's eye view (probably from a helicopter). "This video is coming live as authorities are in hot pursuit of an alleged criminal." The TV cut back to the news woman. "The suspect in question is Rigby," a picture of Rigby faded in on the upper right corner, "a groundskeeper at the Twin Peaks park. It is believed he is responsible for the murders of his brother and the disappearance of..."

* * *

Nine. Rigby figured that there were nine cop cars from the occasional glances he took from his rear view mirror. The helicopter was still flying overhead.

Rigby's blood was pumping. He was driving down the highway at 83 mph.

It took him a moment to realize that there were no cars left on the highway, just him and the police behind. Something was up. His hunches were flaring up beyond belief.

He took a quick glance in the rear view mirror. What was 'quick' to Rigby was 6 seconds, which at 83 mph is a pretty far distance.

It wasn't until he looked back at the road did he realize the V formation of cop cars in front of them. It wasn't until he even got closer that he saw the tire spikes in front of them. Rigby panicked as he tried to turn off the highway and drive around.

It was too late, Rigby's car hit the spikes at an angle. All four wheels blew out. The car was still turning and moving forward. The Cadillac flipped as it started doing rolls, bouncing off the ground with each turn, chunks of metal flying everywhere. On the third roll the bumper flew off.

It came to an abrupt stop as it hit upside down with a tree off the road. The right of the car bent and morphed around the tree as it hit it.

Rigby had made a shield around his head the second the car hit the tire spikes. He was lucky, barely a scratch on him. But he was completely disoriented. Everything seemed to be spinning. He unbuckled his seat belt. At this, he fell head first on to the ceiling of the car.

All the police cars parked in formations around Rigby's car. Rigby got out, dazed, but he could still clearly tell what was going on.

"Get down on the ground!" one of the cops yelled to him. Their guns pointing in his direction.

Rigby looked over the car to see the forest behind him.

Rigby faced the cops and quickly created fireballs in his hands. Before a single shot was fired, Rigby threw both of them towards the police barricade. It didn't kill anyone, but the explosions were enough to make them get behind cover. Rigby took his chance and made a mad dash into the woods.

He ran as fast as he could. The run he made that morning still tired him immensely. Rigby could hardly keep running, but he pushed himself on. He didn't hear any cops in pursuit, but he kept going.

* * *

"Why aren't we going after him?" One of the younger cops asked to the sheriff.

"This guy's too dangerous. They're bringing in SWAT Team to flush him out. Plus, we got a couple cops from the next towns over to watch any exit out of the woods."

As he finished, the armored SWAT cars rolled up to the scene.

* * *

"_Why are you running Rigby?"_

Rigby couldn't answer this.

"_Aren't you tired, Rigby?"_

Rigby slowed down. He took a breath at a nearby tree before sliding down and sitting down. That day alone, he had ran a total of 14 miles. His sides were on fire.

But that didn't outweigh his hunches. His head was pounding. He looked at all sides, he couldn't see anyone but he could feel them: _SWAT, M4s and MP5s, light body armor, left side._

Reluctantly, Rigby lifted himself back up, and carried on.

There was nothing he could do but keep running. His hunches told him his pursuers were on his tail.

_Bang_, shots rang out from behind, the rattle of the machine guns slowly getting closer their mark.

There was no option for him but to run, and just continue running. All of a sudden his path was cut off, three SWAT officers stepped out in front of his path, machine guns firing directly at Rigby. But it was to no avail as Rigby immediately released a shield wall in front of him. Every bullet was blocked and Rigby just kept running.

"SHIT!" Rigby screamed. A cliff cut him off; the drop was too high to jump down. Oddly enough, there seemed to be something like snow at parts of the cliff, but Rigby didn't care to notice.

By the time he had turned around, he was already surrounded. There was at least 15 officers, with more most likely following behind. _"You know what you need to do"_ whispered the book into his head. _"Let me in, RIGBY!"_ NO! Not again! He promised himself he would never succumb to _HIM_ again.

The machine guns were now raised to him. He didn't have much time left. Rigby was in a panic now. There was no way out of this one. "Stand down and put your hands behind your head!" The voices yelled directed at Rigby. The courageous raccoon wasn't going to surrender, not like this. He made a fireball in his right hand. "LAST WARNING, STAND DOWN!" Rigby remained unyielding.

"OPEN FIRE!" The bullets rang out, each with a thunderous crack. Rigby had made a dome shaped-shield completely covering his body like a bubble; It was just in time, successfully blocking the shots, at least for now. But this couldn't last for long. It was weakening, gradually fading with each shot. If he was in better shape he could keep it formed for hours, but not now... now he was exhausted, tired, and weak...

"_Aren't you tired Rigby?" _The voice was soothing to Rigby. "_Aren't you tired Rigby? ...__Let me in Rigby."_ At this point _He _was right: there was no real choice. Rigby let go... and The Lich took control...

Once again, the Enchiridion began to glow as it slid out of Rigby's bag and floated overhead with bright green flames.

Rigby closed his eyes, the shield was starting to fade. He quickly made his demonic flames in his hands and launched them towards his pursuers. It stunned them for a second, but none of them were harmed...yet...

**::This is why this is M::**

Rigby opened his eyes. They were replaced by the Lich's deep, hollow eyes. He let out a faint smile as he emitted fireballs in his palms. He launched one directly at a group of the officers. Rigby had never tried it on anything living excpet for Skips, but his Green flames don't burn like normal flames do; they melt. (Skips, who is immortal in himself, was more immune to the melting).

Three SWAT officers clenched their slowly burning faces and let out blood curdling screams as the Lich ran towards the others. By the time they fell to the ground, their body armor dissolved and all that was left of their faces was a skull covered in burnt flesh.

His shield blocked every desperate shot from the SWAT team. As the Lich got close to his next target, he formed a plasma type blade in his right arm. A swift uppercut broke through the poor man's armor and sliced open his rib cage. Blood sprayed over Rigby's body.

He turned to the next man and spun around with his blade extended outwards, slicing the poor bastard clean in half.

Flames to the right, a fireball to the left, some more slashes; the Lich had shredded the entire squadron to ribbons. What officers didn't have their very skin melted were sliced in every which way.

The roar of the helicopter from earlier could be heard overhead. It appeared over the treeline. Target Practice.

The Lich formed a much larger fireball than normal, this one required both hands to form. He sent it hurling it into the chopper's direction. A large explosion erupted as the flaming wreck fell to the ground. A grim smile grew on Lich Rigby's face.

The Lich thought this was all good fun. It hadn't been able to use its power like this in years. But this was horribly ineffective. If the Lich wanted to complete its ultimate goal, it had to think bigger, and fast. It didn't know how long it would last in Rigby's body before losing control. Could it be 10 seconds? 10 minutes? An hour? It had to act fast. It knew exactly what was going on in the world (thanks to Rigby's curiosity with the news) and what was needed to spark the world powder keg.

This was going to hurt Rigby a lot more than it would hurt the Lich...

The Lich formed fireballs in each of its hands. He raised them over his head, forming a single, greater fireball. The Enchiridion grew brighter as the Lich fed off of its energy. It began to spin the fireball in his hands.

The fireball grew larger and larger. Rigby's body was starting to give out from this over use of magic. His arms were starting to steam and the Lich could feel the boy's sides begin to burn.

But he didn't stop. Larger and larger he made the fireball grew. At this point it was half the size of the Park house. The Enchiridion grew even brighter as it began to steam as well.

The Lich took the fireball and hurled it into the air. It flew fast as it quickly left his view.

* * *

Rigby regained his body. He looked around in terror at the sight around him. Dead, mangled bodies lay strewn across the clearing. Rigby was covered in blood, but it wasn't even his blood.

Rigby just stared wide eyed at the sight around him. His body was still burning from what just happened.

His body was desperate for rest and Rigby collapsed on his hands and knees. Rigby had watched helplessly at the scene that unfolded earlier. He heard their screams, saw their terrified faces, and could do nothing for them.

"What did you do? What the fuck did you make me do?!" Rigby screamed.

The Lich didn't respond, things were much worse at hand.

The Mushroom War, was on its way...

**::Sorry it took so long to publish, major writer's block (it kind of shows here). Next chapter will come out much sooner. Leave a review::**


	5. Launch

The sweat was beading off of his forehead as he ran.

He didn't exactly know what the emergency was, but he had to be a part of it. He had to do _something,_ he may be the only one there who could.

(Former) Secretary of Defense John Martin sprinted through the Pentagon. He ran straight to the doors to the control room.

The guards at the door tightened the grips on their weapons. "Sir, I'm sorry, we can't let you in here. These orders come from the top."

John was in a frantic state, "You don't understand! The President and the Vice President are at a UN hearing in New York and the Secretary of State is in with Congress. I am next on the chain of command!"

"The President has already suspended your clearance! Whatever is at hand, the President will have to deal with it when he can, but for now it falls to the Secretary of Homeland Security."

John was getting tired of this bureaucratic bullshit. Three years he put up with the politics, always getting in the way of his authority. He was tired of it all, "Bullshit! I am still John Martin, Secretary of Defense, for at lest 5 more days. In that time I can personally make sure neither of you have a job. And what would the American people think if a national crises happened because Secretary Martin couldn't handle it. Now open the goddamn door!"

One of the guards gulped as they looked towards each other. "Alright John, but just this time." They opened the door and John walked in.

The command room was in a frenzy. The operators at the computer terminals were in a frenzy. Those who were not busy at their stations were frantically running to and fro operators delivering reports. The LCD displays at the front of the center outlined the world map with each country, as well as the US and its states and a few other minor projections. These took up the entire wall.

As John walked in, a few of the operators turned to him. The room was half as quiet now. All eyes were on him.

John cleared his throat as he called at, "What happened?"

One of the operators near him ran to his side as he explained: "About 15 minutes ago, a nuclear explosion took place in the Iranian capital, Tehran."

"Do you we have any feed of the explosion?" John asked. The man nodded as the LCD screens faded out and showed satellite footage. The video showed the capital as it was. Then in the blink of an eye, the entire city was wiped out.

A small number of workers stopped working to watch Secretary Martin. John ran through this all in his head, "Do we know of any possible suspects?"

"We've tried contacted the Israelis, but their as shocked as we are."

John thought for a moment, "Is it possible that this was an Iranian cover-up to start a proxy-war with us?"

"That's not possible. It's confirmed that the Iranian President was killed in the blast."

"The type of suspect depends on the type of delivery..." John asked, "Was this a ground based explosion? Was it missile launched? ...launch from aircraft?"

"We don't know..." someone called from another point of the room.

John turned to the speaker, "What do you mean we don't know?"

"What he means," the man at John's side interrupted, "is that we picked up something odd on radar. We almost didn't catch it ourselves. But we have no idea what it is."

The satellite footage rewound itself. It stopped before the initial explosion. It slowly played. Something caught John's eye. It was just a small blip on the screen, for maybe half a second, but it was enough to catch his attention.

The tape rewound again. "We picked this up before the explosion..." the man said to John. The tape slowed down but this time it zoomed in on something. It looked... odd... it was a green ball of... something. It looked almost as though it was on fire. Even as the tape was slowed down, it still whizzed across the screen.

"What the hell is that?!" John demanded.

"We have no idea. But it seems to be the cause of the explosion." one of the other operators said.

"Can we trace it?"

"No, it doesn't appear to show up on radar. But we're working on the trajectory calculations as we speak."

John wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Have we contacted the Russians yet?"

"We tried sir, they won't respond. Moscow's gone dark."

"And the President still doesn't know about this?" John asked.

"Not yet..."

"HEY! I got it!" One of the operators yelled. The LCD display quickly changed back to the world map. "From the speed and the angle of the projectile," A dotted line was forming on screen as he spoke, "It appears to come from... Here..."

The dotted line ended directly in America.

"This was a rogue spear. We don't have any missile of that kind. Can we get satellite imagery on it?"

"We're working on it sir, it may take some time, but in the meantime-"

The LCD screen began bleeping. The entire room grew silent as they turned their attention to the large display. Russia was glowing with blinking dots. There were hundreds, no, thousands of them! These dots began moving on their own. Some seemed to head over the North Pole, some seemed to head across the Caspian Sea and others across the Ural Mountains. (For physical representation, Google image/earth those locations).

The dots were slow, but everyone in the room knew these meant. Each of those dots... was a Nuke.

Everyone was silent. Some people covered their mouths with their hands in shock.

"...How much time do we have?" John asked as he broke the silence. There was heavy weight in his voice.

"...15 minutes, at the most..."

The room became filled with desperate and alarmed conversation. The people of the room were fretting, some of them crying.

John turned to the man, "We have to order a retaliatory strike!"

"We can't, only the President has that kind of authority!"

The lights of the Display were getting closer to their marks. Suddenly, lights erupted From France, Britain, and Israel as most of those lights headed towards Russia. "Allies to the end..." John cynically thought to himself. More lights erupted. Lights from India and Pakistan glowed as they headed towards each other, a couple towards Israel. China became a glow as its arsenal was also launched.

John became frustrated, "We don't have time for the President! In 15 minutes this entire country will be a wasteland! I am ordering a Nuclear Strike against Russia and its allies! NOW!"

"WE have to wait for Presidential clearance! You do not have the authority to launch a retaliation!" the man pleaded.

"If we wait for the President, we'll all be dead by the time he gives us an answer!"

The room began quiet once more. They were all waiting on what would happen next. No one objected to John's claims. They all stared in his direction.

"...Get the launch codes ready."

One of the senior operators got up and headed over to the "Terminal." This terminal in particularly had the launch activation codes for the US nuclear arsenal. Usually, this thing was impossible to access, but now that a threat was incoming, the Terminal unlocked itself.

The operator sat down at the terminal and punched in the codes.

A small case flew open to reveal a blinking red button. The man's hand hovered over the button.

"Well son, what are you waiting for?" John asked.

"I-I can't do it!" the operator said as he slumped back into his chair. "I am not dying with this on my conscience..."

The man from earlier said to John, "Are you sure you want to do this? No matter what, we're dead. But this, this would kill billions of people! Is it really worth it?!"

John turned to the others, their eyes stared blankly at him. "So no one wants the blood on their hands..." Silence from the room. "Fine, I'll do it..."

John walked over to the Terminal. He hovered his hand over the button. It sat there for a moment. Sweat quickly beaded on his forehead. This was a big decision. Several billion people. All dead. From the push of a button.

John gulped, closed his eyes, said a quick prayer, and pushed the button.

At once, the LCD display showed thousands of blinking lights emerged from the US. Some were headed over the Pacific, to China and North Korea, while the rest were headed to Russia and other hostile nations.

John turned to everyone. Fear was written on everyone's faces. This was their last moments on earth. John was shaking. "All of you, call your families if you wish. Say a prayer if that's your way. As for me, I think I'm going to have one last drink."

The room was filled with a flurry of people on their cell phones, desperately calling their families. Some, on the other hand, thought to spend their last moments in sheer bliss. Someone had made a run to the bar and beers were getting passed out left and right. Some were even cracking jokes.

The man next to John could hardly believe the fanfare. John on the other hand, retrieved a bottle of Scotch from the others and was chugging the whole bottle, his hands still shaking while he did.

John turned to the man, "Got a cigarette?"

The man nervously reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a carton of cigarettes. He handed one to John.

"You know, I gave these up years ago. But shhhh, don't tell my wife." At this John broke out into a huge fit of ironic laughter. The man just stared blankly at him.

One of the men ran up to John, "The President just called, he ordered a nuclear retaliation... Congratulations Secretary Martin, you just saved the US 10 minutes."

John laughed even harder at this news. The man, who was still scared as hell, nervously formed a smile at this.

"30 SECONDS!" One of the operators frantically yelled.

"Oh listen to them. If you didn't know any better you'd think they'd be counting down to fucking New Years!" John said grinning.

The man already had a lit cigarette in his mouth. He held the lighter in his hand and was passing it off to John.

"You know, I never did catch your name." John said to the man.

"It's Steve." the man said as John took the lighter from him.

"Well Steve, I guess you'll see me in hell." John said cynically.

He rose the lighter to his mouth. He flicked the lighter. Only sparks came out. He flicked it again. Same result. He tried one last time...

It was at that moment that Washington D.C. were burned into oblivion, with everyone in it...

* * *

**15 Minutes Earlier...**

"What the fuck did you make me do?" Rigby desperately screamed.

His body was still covered in blood.

The clearing was littered with the dead bodies. All because of... _Him... _Rigby was shaking head to toe. He stared at his blood soaked hands. "Oh god!" Rigby screamed as he semi-collapsed to the ground, erupting loud sobs.

The Lich could only laugh to itself at the boy's reaction.

But Rigby didn't have time to grieve. Something was much worse at hand.

The pain pierced the back of Rigby's head. His body felt numb. He could feel the heat, vividly see the explosion. He could feel what was going on in the world. In a few minutes, the entire City would be destroyed,

Rigby was actually safe where he was. He was completely outside of the blast radius. But he had to do something, _anything._ After all the people the Lich made him kill... he had to something good.

Rigby was already exhausted, not to mention his sides and arms burning. But he had to power through it.

Rigby ran out of the forest. He stopped for a moment just before the treeline and threw up. He still had not eaten a single thing that day.

"_What are you doing? You think you can save them?"_

Rigby rested on his knees as he took a breath. He physically could not take anymore. He was still 8 miles away from the City.

Rigby then looked up. He only desperately shook his head at what he saw. On the horizon, there were glowing lights streaming across the sky. There were hundreds of them. Each light was nuke streaming across the sky.

He couldn't take out all of them, he just had to worry about the ones heading for the city. He closed his eyes and listened to his hunches. He was able to feel three of them heading for the city.

Rigby formed a green fireball in his right hand. His arm was burning, even from this simple task he had done dozens of times before. Now it was too much for him. He used both hands just to keep the fireball lit.

He picked out the closest of the three nukes. Even though Rigby sucked at Trigonometry, and Algebra, and any math for that matter, he was still able to guess where the missile would be by the time he threw the fireball.

He screamed as he hurled the ball of green fire with all his might. It sailed onward until he saw a faint explosion in the distance. One down, two to go.

But Rigby couldn't handle another one of those. His body was completely exhausted.

He had to take out the other missiles a more conventional way...

But even then, he'd still need help...


	6. Safe For Now

**::Sorry this took me so long, major Writer's block, took me forever to get the Mordecai part. Here it is, next chapters will be much better::**

"No, no no, NO GODDAMMIT!" Mordecai screamed to himself.

He sat alone in the cart, the Crown sitting in the passenger seat next to him. He was crying to himself. He turned to look in the rear-view mirror. The man in his reflection stared back at him with distraught and dead eyes. His beard was at least an inch or two long now. He turned his head away in shame as he let out more tears.

He had failed. He couldn't stop Rigby... he killed Eileen... now he was killing others...

_"What's wrong Simon?"_ The Crown seemed to ask. It was much politer than usual.

Mordecai just stared blankly at the crown, tears still streaming down his face.

"_Why didn't you use me? Hmm? What are you afraid of?"_

"I'm afraid of losing myself..." Mordecai thought. "I'm afraid of becoming..."

_"...Like Rigby?"_

But that wasn't all though. Whoever that Simon guy was, he's invading his way into Mordecai. He can't even last a solid 10 minutes convinced that he is still Mordecai. Why was it doing this to him?

_"It is all his fault though,"_ Mordecai looked back to the Crown. _"__It is all Rigby's fault."_

Mordecai had never even thought of this. "Rigby's fault?"

_"All Rigby's fault"_

It was right, in a way. It was tough to bring the words together, but he still agreed. "All... Rigby's... fault..."

His train of thought was interrupted by commotion from outside. He got out of the cart and walked into the street to see what was happening.

People were slowly filing out of buildings up and down the street. A simultaneous murmur erupted among them. They were all staring in the same direction towards the sky.

Mordecai turned to see what everyone was confused about only to be left open mouthed.

In the sky above him were hundreds of what looked like glowing orange dots. They were coming closer with each second. Something about this all didn't seem right with Mordecai. What the hell were they?

Just then a small green ball of fire flew across the sky. The fireball hit the closest of the glowing lights, causing a large explosion. No one knew what the hell to make of it, but Mordecai did. He knew exactly where that ball came from: Rigby.

But then he remembered what Rigby had said. Was he really right? Was everything really going to end? Well what the hell could those lights be?

At that moment, there was a bright flash off in the distance. Mordecai had to shield his eyes for a moment. When he looked back, dozens of miles away, a fiery mushroom cloud was forming. Only then did it hit everyone on what was happening. Each of those lights was a nuclear missile, heading off for destruction.

Panic descended onto the city. Those who saw their destruction desperately ran into their homes and apartments, getting anything ready to get out of the City as soon as possible. Some people just hoped into their cars and forgot everything else and they made a desperate attempt to leave.

He had to do something, _anything_, to stop this: but what could he do? The Crown called to Mordecai at that moment. He hated the idea, but Mordecai needed it. He ran over to the cart and picked it up. The nukes were getting closer and closer. They almost seemed to be over the city.

One of them dove to the ground miles away. Another bright flash and a mushroom cloud. It couldn't have been more than 20 miles away. Mordecai could see one of the missiles getting close. He was sure it was destined to hit the City.

Mordecai looked down at the Crown in his hands. The screams from the others in the City became muffled and quieted, all his attention fixed on the Crown.

Mordecai sighed, lifted the Crown into the air, and put it on top of his head. At once his eyes turned an icy white. His beard immediately grew to the point that it was a little past his chest level. A wicked cackel erupted from Mordecai. But it wasn't only his voice, it seemed like something, _someone,_ was laughing alongside him.

The Ice Crown had control now.

The power of the snow filled Mordecai as an icy chill coursed through his veins.

Rage, nothing but icy rage...

"You think you can take my kingdom away from me?" he screamed fanatically at the incoming nuke. "No, no NO this is to be my domain!"

He twisted his arms in a circular motion above his head. As he did, a icy tornado slowly began to form around him. The cyclone drew more violent and chaotic as it rose higher and higher. Frost began to cover nearby cars and windows. Anything caught in the center was lost in the swirling winds of ice.

The nuke was caught in the icy cyclone. It slowly began to turn to ice as it fell closer and closer. It gradually fell slower and slower.

Finally as it was midway through its fall, the missile completely froze to a solid block. It floated petrified in the air as it lay in the center of the frost-filled tornado.

It was at this point Mordecai had control. Using every bit of strength he had, he reversed the tornado. The nuke was drawn into the cyclone. It spun faster and faster. He made a final push, causing the cyclone to dissipate. The missile was flung through the air like a toy.

It landed and exploded 60 miles out of the city.

He had done it. He saved the city.

But the Crown wasn't satisfied yet. He turned his attention to the town around him. He threw an icy blasts left and right. A few cars were turned on their side. A heavy snowfall immediately to fall.

"It's all mine! My ice! My domain! MY KINGDOM! My-...my..."

Among the chaos, he saw her there. He saw her stare, he look of sheer terror. There, further down the road, was Margaret.

Mordecai remembered who he was, if only for a split second. He quickly threw the crown off his head. His beard went back to its short length.

He fell to the ground. He was still staring at her. "I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Mordecai looked around him. There was still a crowd of people watching him. He could hear them! No one said anything but oh god he could hear them! _"Freak!" "Villain!" "Monster!" _The insults ran threw him! He could feel their stares piercing into him!

He grabbed the crown and ran. He left everyone behind and ran.

Someone behind him screamed. He turned around. Another nuke was still riding straight for the City. There was no possible way he could get there in time. It was streaming straight down at lightning speed.

Mordecai could do nothing but stand there dumbfounded and watch helplessly.

It hit the ground, Mordecai shielded his face as he prepared for the oncoming destruction.

* * *

The bright flares from the after-burners of the missiles still filled the sky.

"Don't worry, just keep your mind ahead. You have time, lots of time..."

Rigby was driving straight for the downtown area. His hunches were driving him there. Its where it would land. It had to be. He was driving an SUV into the town. Though he didn't feel particularly proud of it, it's what he had to do. He had held up those people at gunpoint, saw the fear in their eyes. It was the only way get into town, but he still hated the idea.

There were no cars on his side of the street, only cars on the other side desperately trying to leave.

_"Turn around... go back Rigby."_

"No, I'm not listening to you!"

_"You don't owe these people anything."_

"Shut up!"

_"To them, you're nothing but a common criminal. You're nothing but shit"_

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

One of the nukes in the distance went off. Rigby had to momentarily cover his eyes. He had to hurry, and fast. He slammed on the gas. On the bright side, no traffic cops.

He stopped at where he knew the nuke would fall. He got out and ran into the center of the road. He looked up, what missiles there were left were streaming straight overhead.

He looked on as he saw one of the missiles begin its descent towards the other side of town. Suddenly, what looked like a tornado had engulfed the nuke. Rigby knew secretly who was responsible for it.

He turned his attention back up. Another missile was starting its descent. It was going to fall directly on Rigby.

"This is going to hurt..."

Rigby took a few deep breaths and relaxed. Even though it took a lot out of him, Rigby formed a magic shield. He formed it into almost like a cup shape.

The nuke was falling faster and faster and faster.

Rigby had to time this right. He closed his eyes and solely let his instincts take over.

Time slowed down for Rigby. The nuke was falling at over 850 mph. Even though in theory it should have taken microseconds for it to impact with the ground, it felt like an eternity in itself.

The missile fell directly into Rigby's shield. Just as it was about to make impact, Rigby closed the top end of the shield, forming a bubble around the missile.

As the bomb exploded, it flashed a bright light. The shield grew immensely as nothing but a ball of fire lay inside.

Rigby was screaming from the pain to keep the explosion contained. His body was steaming. Bits of skin on his arms began to burn and smolder.

Though the pain was only increasing, Rigby slowly, but surely, shrank the size the of the shield bubble. It was growing smaller, and smaller, and smaller.

It was to the point where the shield bubble was only a few feet in diameter. But oh God it hurt.

It began to grow increasing difficult to shrink it any further.

_"Aren't you tired Rigby?"_ the demonic book calmly said to him. _"Aren't you tired?_ ... _Let go Rigby, let go."_

How easy it would be. Just relaxing, and it would all be over. His body felt it was on fire, he had no idea how much more he could take.

No, he had to push on. With every last bit of strength he had left in him, Rigby closed the shield. The explosion completely vanished, as did its container.

The exhausted Raccoon fell to the ground. His whole body was shaking. He looked around. There was almost no one there. No one knew what he did. No one.

It wasn't safe to stay in the city. He was still a wanted man. But he couldn't find the strength to get up.

"I'll just... I'll just lay here... for a little while... just for a moment..."

* * *

The bright flash in the distance had startled all of them. It seemed to fill every corner of the house. Everyone shielded their eyes.

When the light died down, Thomas was the one to break the silence," What the hell was that?"

Benson walked over to the window. In the distance, he saw it: a mushroom cloud. It had to be no more than 30 miles out.

In the kitchen, Benson, Thomas, Muscle Man, HFG, and Pops took the time to let what had just happened sink in.

Skips ran into the house, the burns on his body were still plainly visible. "What happened?"

Benson moved away from the window. Skips saw what lay in the distance. No one said anything.

In the skies overhead, there must have been hundreds of missiles.

It was at this point panic struck the group, all except for Skips and Benson. "Shit Shit Shit! We're fucked!" Muscle Man screamed in a desperate voice. High Five Ghost had joined his friend in with his adjoining hysteria.

Pops was completely unsure of what to make of this. He simply slowly backed away, tears filling his eyes.

Thomas ran to the phone on the kitchen wall. He quickly grabbed it and punched in the numbers.

Benson saw this, "Thomas, what are you-?!"

Thomas quickly responded, "We live out in Finleyville, I need to make sure my mom's okay!" He was stuck waiting in anticipation as the phone dialed the numbers. The phone begin to ring in his ear. A feeling of temporary relief swept over Thomas. If the phone was ringing, then that must've meant she was still okay.

His mom picked up on the other end with a hasty, quickened voice, "Hello? Thomas?"

"Mom, are-"

Suddenly a bright light erupted in the distance. It was coming through the living room windows. After it died down, there was yet another mushroom cloud off in the distance.

Thomas stood there petrified as the phone remained silent. There was nothing coming from the other end. As badly as he didn't want to believe it, there was no denying it: Thomas's mother was dead.

Thomas let go of the phone as it fell to the floor. He fell back against the wall. Benson tried to put a hand on his shoulder to at least give him some comfort. Before he could Thomas had slid down the wall and now sat on the floor. He drew his hand to his forehead as he began to cry. He cried like he had never cried before in his life.

Not even Skips knew what to do. He turned to Benson. He didn't say anything, but his stare said everything. _"You're our boss, Do something!"_

There was still nothing but chaos in the house.

"Man we're fucked! We're fucked!"

"I don't why to die like this!"

"Mom... MOM!"

"ENOUGH!" Benson finally erupted. This momentarily caught everyone's attention. "We are still alive! We are still alright! Now what we are not going to do is panic, Alright? We are not going to-... panic..."

In the distance they all saw a missile begin to stream to to earth. It was falling faster and faster.

"EVERYBODY DOWN!" Benson screamed. Everyone obeyed as they threw themselves to the ground, all except for Thomas (who was already on the ground and was still so in shock that he didn't even hear Benson) and Skips who still stood standing. "Skips, what are you doing?"

Skips simply looked on amazed. "It's Mordecai!"

"What?" Benson said as he rose to see exactly what he was talking about. Outside was a cyclone absorbing the nuke. He turned to Skips, "You don't think it's..." Skips nodded before Benson finished. The others, excluding Thomas, rose as well. They stood there as the missile was flung from the tornado off into the distance. A short feeling of relief fell on Benson.

Suddenly a bright light from behind them erupted. It seemed to almost blind everything around them. But just as quickly as it came, it was gone. Benson turned to see where it had come from. There was no mushroom cloud, the sky was still normal, there was no trace of whatever had just happened.

They all stood there in silence for what felt like minutes. Nothing could be heard except from Thomas sitting alone on the floor, softly softly whimpering.

"... So now what?" High Five Ghost said, breaking the tension. They all turned to Benson.

He stood there, frozen. How easy it would have been to just give up and panic like the others. But these people looked up to Benson. Right now, he was all they had. He had to do something.

"Things are going to turn quickly, we need to be ready beforehand. Think Benson, think..."

Benson finally spoke; "Alright." He sighed as he gathered his thoughts, "What we need to think of is supplies: Food, medicine, gear, anything. We're going to have make a run into town. But things around here are going to get very violent very quickly. We need to be ready."

Giving everyone things to do might calm them down. "Muscle Man, High Five Ghost: I need you guys to go around and lock down every gate into this park, except the South gate, leave that one unlocked. After that, I want you two to split up. Fives, go to the snack bar and get anything you can. Muscle Man, get everything useful from your trailer and bring it to the house. Walkie talkies, radio, anything: just bring it here. And get some stuff to sleep on."

Muscle Man seemed a bit confused, "Wait, why?"

"To be honest, the park is not the safest place. If someone sneaks in, I don't want anyone away from the group. From now on, everyone will be sleeping here."

Pops cheered up a bit, "It'll be like a sleep over?"

Benson responded, "Yes Pops, like a sleepover. "After that, I want you two to fill every cup, every bowl, every tub you can with water. I don't know if or when the power's going to shut off, but I don't want to be without water. Pops.."

Pops responded at attention, "Yes?"

"Do you still have that sniper in your closet?"

"You mean Papa's old sporting rifle? Yes."

"Can you still shoot with it?" Pops proudly nodded. Benson sighed. This was going to be hard saying, but Pops was the best shot here. "Pops I need you to get it and stand guard on the roof. I want you to watch for anyone trying to get in the park or trying to get close to the house."

Pops seemed a little confused, "What happens if I do?" Benson's eyes trailed off. Pops got the message. "Oh..." His smile faded as he realized what Benson would want him to do.

Benson commanded, "Alright, you know what to do, get to it." As he said this, Muscle Man, Fives, and Pops left the room. Benson turned to Skips, "Do you have anything at your place? Anything you'd need?"

Skips shrugged, "Well I have my cot, some exercise equipment-"

"Good that can wait. Right now I'm going to need you for something." It was then he turned to Thomas still sitting along the wall. He walked over to him and crouched down to his height. "Thomas...?"

Thomas said nothing he was still in shock as he stared at the ground. Benson said again, "Thomas?!" This time Thomas turned to look at him, his face still wet with tears. "Look, I know this is hard for you, and I would not want to ask anything else from you right now. But we need you. Alright? We need you right now."

Thomas lightly nodded. He quietly said, "okay... alright..." as he slowly stood up. "What do you need?"

Benson said, "Right now we're going to need whatever supplies we can. We need to make a run into town, get whatever we can."

Skips spoke, "Where in town are we going?"

Benson replied, "I'd imagine the South end being completely jammed with cars. No one would dare try to go to the North side of town. So I say we'll head to the North end as see what we can get."

Skips was startled, "The North end? That's the most dangerous part of town!"

Benson hated the idea too, that side was notorious for its gangs. "I know, but there is no chance of us getting anything from this side of town."

Skips sighed, "Fine. You can't guarantee anything though."

"I know." Benson wanted to go to the North side for one other special reason. It was where the hospital was. If there was any place of getting stuff for her, it was there...

"You two get in my car, I got to get something."

As Skips and Thomas left the house, Benson ran upstairs to his office. He grabbed as much money from the Park account as he could. Mordecai had already taken his glock pistol, but he forgot about the other one. He headed over to his filling cabinet, opened the bottom drawer, and grabbed the object.

When he ran to the car, Skips was in the passenger seat and Thomas was in the back. Benson sat in the driver seat as he placed his .38 revolver on the center console. Thomas' eyes immediately grew wide. He'd never even seen a gun before.

Benson saw Thomas' expression. "If things are going to be half as bad as I think they are, we're going to need this."

Benson started the car as the trio drove out of the park, unsure of what lay ahead.

**::Again, sorry for the wait. Will try to update more regularly now. Leave a review of what you think so far, any suggestions, or predictions. Thanks::**


	7. The Day

_"Wake Up..."_

_._

_"Wake up Rigby..."_

_._

_"It's time to wake up..."_

_._

Rigby slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurred. He couldn't see anything... But what was there to see?

"No... not this again..."

Everything around him was pitch black. He was surrounded in nothingness. The only thing he could see was his own breath in front of him.

Once again, Rigby found himself once again in the clutches of that _thing_, or whatever the fuck it was. He found himself... in the _Abyss._

"_Why?_"

A voice came piercing through the void. Rigby turned around and found himself face to face with Eileen. She stood there gazing at him. Tears streamed down her face. Her eyes...oh God, her eyes! She had no pupils in her eyes, instead there was just a fill of glassy white. Empty, dead eyes staring shapelessly back at him.

_"Why did you do this to me?"_ she questioned him. Her voice was itself like a ghostly moan, ringing in Rigby's ears.

"I- I'm sorry, I-I couldn't-..." What was he to say? What could he say?

_"How could you do this to me?"_

Rigby's voice quivered, "I-it wasn't my fault. I-it wasn't me, it was...I-..."

_"Why did you let him take me?"_

"I-...w-what?" That last part she said confused him. What on earth did she mean by him _taking_ her?

Eileen began to tear up. _"I'm alone here, Rigby,"_ she began to cry, only her tears were not normal. To Rigby's shock, her tears were replaced by small drickles of blood running from her pale, dead eyes. "_It's so cold here. I'm so alone."_

He found that began to slowly cry along with her. Tears slowly formed as they trickled down Rigby's face.

Eileen faced Rigby with a much more serious tone. "_He's taken me... He has me now..." _As she said this, a boney hand emerged from the darkness behind her. It rested itself upon her shoulder.

"Eileen!"

_"And there's nothing you can do about it..." _The hand pulled Eileen back into the darkness.

"NO!" Rigby screamed as he reached after her. But he was too late. She was gone and he was left standing alone in the darkness.

Her voice pierced once again through the nothingness, "_And He'll take you too..."_ Rigby desperately looked around trying to find the source of the voice. His heart was racing and his breath became quickened with sheer terror. The voice came again, only it wasn't Eileen's voice anymore. The Lich spoke alongside her, _"...Very soon."_

Something grabbed Rigby as it pulled him backwards. Absolute terror gripped him as he felt nothing but a cold rush of emptiness enter. It was like nothing he had felt or ever wanted to feel.

At once the feeling was gone. He found himself awake still lying on the street. His breath was still quickened to the point of hyperventilation. His was blood still pumping. He felt a cold sweat over his body as he felt he was literally pulled from the worst nightmare of his life.

It took him a couple seconds to realize where he was at. His vision was blurred as everything around was painted in a fuzzy haze. He was still exhausted from before. He still just wanted to lay there and regain his strength.

"Heh-hey man, we got us a life one over here!"

The abrupt voice brought Rigby back to alertness. Almost acting on instinct, he drew his M1911 from his bag as he quickly stood up. Standing before him were three punks. Each of them were carrying croquet clubs. He heard about these guys along time ago from Mordecai. These punks were part of the gang, The Wickets. If he hadn't waken up sooner, they would've mugged him right there on the street. At least that's what Rigby's hunches led him to believe, and they haven't been wrong before.

"Woah! Hey man chill out!" one pleaded.

"Just stay back!" Rigby demanded, fixing his grip tighter on his handgun. The hammer was pulled back and the safety was off.

"Look man, we don't want no trouble!" the same guy said again.

"I said stay the fuck back!" he screamed at the group.

"Hey, this guys that cop killer on the news!" one of the others said. Once this was said, the others took a step back in fear.

A wave of guilt and panic swept over Rigby. They knew what he'd done. And if these low-lifes knew who he is, how many others would know? How would others respond? Mordecai was his best friend and he even he tried to kill him. What would everyone else do? He would be scorned, hated, cast out, viewed as a monster, or worse.

All he could feel was the growing guilt inside of him. Guilt from his brother, guilt from all this destruction, guilt for Eileen, just plain guilt for anything and everything he had done.

He was at the point of nausea. "I need to get out of here" he thought to himself. He immediately turned and ran as fast as he could.

He was running out of the city, where he knew he was a dead man. Running. Running to escape who he was, what he did, and what he was becoming. Just running.

* * *

"What just happened?"

Those were the only thoughts Mordecai could create at the moment. Last thing he saw was a nuke streaming straight for impact with the North half of the City, a bright blinding flash, and then nothing.

He still stood there frozen on the street. It took a second to regain himself before turning to head back to the cart.

"Mordecai, wait!"

The voice alarmed Mordecai. It had been weeks since he heard_ her _even talk. He turned to see Margaret coming towards him.

Margaret didn't even know why she was going over to him. Did she even still love him? No. But did she hate him? Well...not exactly. She still felt _something_ for Mordecai. Not the _something _you have for someone you love, but the feeling towards something you've lost and whose memory you still carry with you.

Margaret saw what had occurred only moments before. She saw his terrified gaze, his look of guilt and anger. She felt almost a little sorry for him.

But even different from that, she still had something... important... to tell him.

The former lovers stood face to face. "Margaret, I-... I'm s-" He didn't even finish his sentence. He was overtaken by shame and by guilt as he turned his eyes to the ground. He couldn't even bear to look at her.

"It's-It's alright, Mordecai" she replied sympathetically. Mordecai gave a look of remorse and regret, but Margaret offered a look, not one of anger or unhappiness, but one that seemed to be of understanding an acceptance. This was what Mordecai was becoming. There was no way to stop it.

"Mordecai... there's something I've been meaning to tell you..." she said. This probably wasn't the best time to say what was about to be said. But with nukes falling and the potential for this to be the end of the world, God only knows the next time they'll see each other.

It was finally at that moment that Mordecai looked back at Margaret. It was also at that moment something caught his eye. Margaret's stomach caught him off guard. It was... big. Not really _big_ but bigger than it usually was. "She can't be fat, there was no way in hell. It's almost like she's... like... OH GOD!"

Mordecai caught what Margaret was going to say before anything was even uttered. He shook his head as he backed away. No no no NO there's no way!

Margaret realized that Mordecai knew what was going on. "Mordecai..."

Mordecai turned and ran. "MORDECAI WAIT!" was called behind him.

He couldn't stand the thought. No, no, he wasn't, he _couldn't_. Not like this. Oh God why did he have to do that to her? Why did he have to curse her like that? He can't help her, not like this. Not while he's scorned and caste out, not while he's a dangerous psychopath whose emotions play like a wildcard, not when he ruins everything he touches, and especially not while he can't even decide who the hell he even is!

Mordecai drove off in the cart. Not even a glance back was given. He'd rather forget she even existed at this point. He'd rather just have himself, and no one else. Just him, and the Crown.

But he can't go on by himself. As much as he'd want to be alone, he can't last long on his own. He needed help. He needed people he could trust. He needed... Mordecai sighed before muttering, "This won't be a fun reunion..."

* * *

Stores looted, windows broken, muggings on the street, and gunshots in the distance filled the cluttered streets as Benson, Skips, and Thomas drove through. The North side of town was known for a few gangs, but they remained somewhat lower than other cities such as Chicago or New York. But here, crime rang out on every street corner.

One of the corner stores was completely overran as thugs were leaving with every type of stolen item. In one of the alleys a man was being brutally mugged. Further down the block, two members of The Wickets spotted a suspicious looking thug wearing a ripped jacket and a red bandanna. They chased the poor kid for about half the block before one got a good swing at the thug's head. He fell to the ground with a thud. Benson drove off before he knew the kid's fate.

There were three gangs in the North side. They were the Wickets, who Mordecai has had encounters with and we know already; Blood Syndicates, a branch-off gang from another state, so far the largest of the gangs (identified by their red bandannas); and the Devil Kings, the smallest of the three, currently lead by a psychopath whose goals are just plain chaos. All three gangs absolutely despise each other. Usually the most they'd do to each other is get into a few fist fights. But now without any cops about, they could do whatever the hell they want.

It was impossible to go 200 feet without seeing some violent act in the process.

Benson tried his best to keep focused on the road in front of him. But all the while, he was constantly scanning every corner, every street, and every alleyway for any potential dangers. All of this, however, remained distantly familiar... Like remnants of the ghosts of his past still lingering...

Skips surprisingly seemed unphased by all of this. Something else was eating at his mind.

Thomas on the other hand was completely alert and focused on what was around him. He'd never seen anything like this before in his life. In addition to his own mom's death, this only frightened him and gave him a feeling of desperation and loneliness. How the hell were Benson and Skips appearing to be so calm through this?

Benson turned the car down an alley with led to a parking lot. As he parked his car, he scanned every part of the lot to make sure no one saw them. "Alright, I think here'll be good." Benson said as he opened the door.

The trio filed out of the car. Benson emptied out the Park account before he left. Money would be worthless after a while, might as well spend it now.

"Skips, you're on food detail. Get any food you can," Benson said toward Skips. He turned next to Thomas, "Thomas, I need you to handle supplies. Anything from flashlights to matches to tarps to whatever you think could be useful." Thomas nervously and weakly nodded. "I cleared the Park records. I'm giving each of you 300 bucks. Make sure to spend as much as you can. As for me, I'm handling medicine."

"How do know anything's left out here?" Thomas asked.

Benson replied, "Well on the South side where people are more rational, the shelves would probably be empty by now. Here, some things seem alright. All the chaos here I think will buy us some time before everything really is gone."

Benson reached back into the car as he grabbed the revolver. "We'll meet back here in two hours. If you can, take any backway you can; the streets aren't exactly the safest anymore. If you're not here in two hours, I'll leave you here." Skips and Thomas started to head off. Before they could Benson called, "Thomas, I need to talk to you for a second."

When Thomas ran over, Benson presented the .38 to him. "Skips and I can hold our own, you need this more."

Thomas reluctantly said, "I-I can't. I don't even know how to shoot or-"

Benson cut him off, "Take it anyway. For emergencies..."

Thomas took the object, hands shaking, and put it down the back of his pants and pulled his shirt over to hide the handle.

As Thomas headed off, he hoped to God he'd never have to use it.

* * *

Rigby's running pace was reduced to a slow walk as he walked on the highway out of the city. Twin Peaks wasn't safe for him. The only place he figured he'd last is in the woods. After all, there were little people and if things got tough he could always hunt for food.

He was completely and utterly exhausted. His legs felt like spaghetti. He still hadn't even eaten anything that day. Now that all the adrenaline had died down, a growing pain crept up from his stomach as was desperate for food.

Something up ahead startled him. It was the SWAT trucks from earlier along with the police barricade. He felt a short wave of panic fill, but it quickly died down when he got a closer look. They were completely abandoned. Not a single officer in sight.

When he got closer, he found out why. He found three dead police officers near their cars. Gunshot wounds. He looked in the back of the SWAT truck. It was picked clean. Everything, guns, ammo, armor, everything: all gone. That is, except for something that caught Rigby's eyes. Under one of the benches were three canisters, pushed all the way in the back. He picked them up; two of them were smoke grenades and the other was a tear gas canister. He placed them in his bag.

"Who the hell did this?" Rigby questioned himself. The whole scene was puzzling.

He gave up questioning and eventually walked into the treeline. Though he didn't like it, the woods were going to have to be his new home.

* * *

Locked, of course. What else would he expect? Not only that, the windows were boarded up as well. Great...

Thomas stood in front of a hardware store. This was the third store he tried to get into. The first two were either being looted or were already looted.

Suddenly a few gunshots and screams startled the frightened goat. He panicked. There was an alley alongside the left side of the store. He quickly ran down it. It was a dead end.

He turned and noticed a window leading into the hardware store. It seemed to be unlocked. He opened it as he crawled inside.

Everything was difficult to see as the store was dark. Thomas almost tripped over a box of nails on the ground in front of him.

_*Click-click*_ Thomas turned to be greeted by the end of a shotgun barrel aimed straight for him. Holding it was an older man who seemed to be in his 50's. Thomas frighteningly raised his hands above his head.

"What are you doin' in here?" the man asked.

"Don't shoot, okay?" Thomas nervously replied, "I just wanted to buy some supplies."

The man found this answer strange. Usually the punks around here would rather shoplift than buy. "You're not from around here, are ya kid?"

"I live out in Finleyville. I have a job at the park. I was here when everything went down."

"I had a brother out in Finleyville. Damn shame..." The man still kept the gun pointed on him, but at least now he relaxed his grip. "You packin'?"

"Just this," Thomas replied as he slowly pulled out his revolver and held it out in front of him, making sure he wasn't holding onto the handle or having his finger off the trigger.

The man lowered his gun and relaxed. Thomas also relaxed as he took a sigh of relief. "You really aren't from around here. Well, I boxed this place in when everything started goin' ta shit. Guess I just forgot 'bout that window there. How much money you got on you kid?"

"About three hundred dollars."

The man chuckled a little. Thomas was a little confused why. "Money's not gonna be worth shit soon. But you seem like a good kid... Alright, you can buy anything you can afford. Prices are double. And just for safety, hand over your gun." Thomas was a little reluctant as the man said this. "Don't worry, I'll hand it back when you're done."

Thomas slowly handed over his revolver to the man. He trusted the stranger, maybe a bit too much. Trust: it could save you or it could be the death of you. Either way, Thomas still seemed a little too trusting.

Thomas began his shopping. First thing he got was a backpack. He needed something to carry his stuff in. It normally cost around $45 but now it was $90. Thomas had to be careful so he didn't go over-budget.

In the end he walked out with three flashlights, two lengths of rope, a role of duct tape, a couple packs of batteries, a kerosene lantern, and a box of .38 ammo: just in case he needed it. This all cost him almost all of his $300.

He was a little disappointing by how little stuff he got, but it was the best he could do with the money he had.

After he paid, the man said, "Son, this world ain't the kindest, " he handed the revolver back to Thomas, "You best be careful out there." Thomas nodded his head as he put the gun back into his pants.

After he climbed back out of the window, he took the time to dust the dirt off of his pants. A voice from the entrance of the alleyway startled him, "Well well, if it isn't one of those Twin Peak assholes."

Thomas turned to be greeted by two figures. One was an ostrich wearing a red hoodie and glasses while the other was a short possum with messy brown hair, a white shirt, and a shark tooth necklace. Thomas heard about these two from Mordecai and Rigby when he first started working at the park. They told him how these two jerk-offs tried to replace them at the park.

"You guys are Chad and Jeremy, right?" Thomas replied to them. They nodded their heads, eerie smiles on both their faces. "Well, I think I'd best be on my way..." Thomas said as he attempted to walk around them.

"Woah Woah Woah! Where do you think you're going?" Jeremy said as he stepped out in front of Thomas.

"Yeah man, we just want to hang, that's all." Chad added. "...What's in the bag?"

Thomas grew hot with fear, "N-nothing." He slowly backed up.

Chad and Jeremy both looked at each other. This would be easy, like taking candy from a scared baby.

The duo took a step towards Thomas. "He-hey, I don't want any trouble!" Thomas pleaded.

"Trouble? What trouble?" Jeremy asked playing innocent. "We just want to know what's up."

As the two walked towards the frightened goat, Thomas raised his hands in a fighting position. He knew he had the gun on him, but he really did not want to use it. He didn't want to shoot anybody. Maybe, he could fight them off after all?

As Jeremy took another step, Thomas sent a right hook towards him. Jeremy easily dodged this as he replied with a right hook straight to Thomas's cheek. Chad joined in as he punched Thomas right in the gut. Thomas wildly swung at the two, but it was to no use. After one of Thomas's attempted hits, Jeremy grabbed his arm and slammed Thomas's back into the wall.

Thomas could feel his head pounding as it collided with the wall. Immediately after, Chad sent a right hook straight for Thomas's head. The impact sent Thomas backwards as he fell onto the ground at the end of the alley.

Chad managed to slip the backpack off of Thomas. "Too easy," Chad muttered to himself. Thomas slowly began to stand up. "Doesn't give up does he?" Chad said towards Jeremy, "Should we let this punk go or should we-"

_***BANG***_

The gunshot surprised all of them. Thomas was holding the .38 at his waist, smoke coming from the barrel. His hands were shaking to no extent. Thomas didn't even remember drawing it or even pulled the trigger, but instincts take over what the mind cannot.

Jeremy looked around. Everything seemed to be okay. Then he turned to Chad.

Chad was standing, looking down at his stomach. The was a small spot of red in the center of Chad's shirt. It began to grow until Chad's shirt became a bloody red mess. Jeremy's face was one of complete shock and dismay.

Chad fell backwards onto the pavement. Jeremy ran and crouched at his side. "OH MY GOD! CHAD! HOLD ON, JU-JUST HOLD ON!"

Thomas felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't stand to be there another second. He quickly snatched the backpack off the ground, his revolver still pointed at Jeremy, his hands still shaking. Thomas's own face was one of complete shock and fear. He had done it. He shot Chad.

"SAY SOMETHING! PLEASE!" Jeremy was crying hysterically now. Chad's eyes blankly stared at his best friend as his chest as his breath was reduced to exasperated weezing. "Look at me, okay? Just look at me! Chad stay with me, you'll be alright! You'll make it through this! Chad-? Chad?! CHAD?!" Jeremy completely broke down. Chad's blank eyes stared straight up at the sky, unmoving. His breath slowed and eventually stopped. There was no use, Chad was gone...

As Thomas crept past them, Jeremy turned his head towards Thomas. His face soaked in tears, his hands covered in his companion's blood. He stared menacingly at Thomas. His eyes looked ready to kill. Thomas inched back in fear and guilt.

Thomas turned and ran. The last thing he heard was Jeremy still screaming for his friend.

Thomas was running as fast as he could to escape that place. His eyes were starting to tear up. He had just shot Chad, plain and simple, and left him for dead. He was a murderer. The very thought made Thomas absolutely sick.

He ran into the parking lot where their car was parked. He was extremely light headed and his stomach was in knots. His entire body was shaking, everything felt like it was spinning. Tears were starting to stream down his face. He keeled over and threw up onto the pavement. He couldn't stand it.

He wiped his mouth and looked up to find Skips standing there, showing a worried look for Thomas.

Benson came running into the parking lot. "You guys alright? Thomas, what's wrong? What happened?"

Thomas was staring at the ground. He couldn't bear to look at either of them. "I-...I-I... I shot... somebody..."

Benson and Skips both exchanged looks of shock and worry. Thomas spoke again, "It was in an alley... he-... he didn't make it..."

Benson knew exactly what Thomas was feeling. Long ago, he went through the exact same thing... He reached out to comfort Thomas. Before he could, Thomas pulled out the gun and shoved it in Benson's arms. He quickly walked over to the car and took a seat in the back.

Benson turned to Skips who said, "I think you should let him be alone for a while."

Benson nodded at this. He then asked, "How'd you do?"

"My stuff's in the trunk. I didn't get much, but I got some cans, dried goods, and some other stuff," Skips answered. "What about you?"

Benson nervously answered, "I went down to the hospital. It was a lot more messy than it should have been. But I got whatever I could find," he said as held out the bag in front of him."

Skips's eyes trailed down from Benson, "Things are going to get worse."

Benson slowly nodded in agreement, "I'm afraid so..." There was a quick moment of silence. "Anyway, let's not stay here for too long." They both got in the car and they drove off, heading back to the park.

* * *

Rigby continued to walk through the woods, stomach growling to no end. He stopped walking to rest for a moment. How he regretted not getting any food. He was absolutely starving.

He'd never been this hungry.

"Come on, stay with the group." The voices echoed from a distance.

Rigby instinctively hid behind a tree. After a few seconds he heard footsteps. He peered behind the tree to see a large parade of orange. Just a large group, all wearing orange jumpsuits.

"Prison break..." Rigby concluded. It made sense. The guards probably wouldn't want to stick around with all this shit going on and it wouldn't take much after that for the prisoners to get out.

A few of them were carrying guns. Not normal handguns and shotguns, they were carrying big guns. M4's and MP5's. "So they're the ones who cleaned out the trucks."

"Keep your eyes peeled, we don't know what's out here." the same voice spoke again. It was a deeper voice. The voice was very... familiar... Rigby recognized. He had no idea how or where, but her remembered that voice. Whoever it was, it had to be the leader.

Rigby could hardly believe his eyes when he saw him. It was Doug. Rigby remembered now. That asshole tried to impersonate him and take his job.

A burning rage of revenge filled Rigby. He couldn't stand to see him. He silently drew his pistol and aimed it straight for Doug's head.

Everything was telling Rigby to pull the trigger. It would be easy. It would probably be the easiest shot he could pull off.

But then he second guessed himself. There were still tons of fully armed, probably violent prisoners all around. "There's a time for everything Rigby, and now's not it..."

_"In due time..."_

* * *

Benson pulled up to the park house. The three got out. Skips and Benson headed to the trunk to get their supplies. Thomas on the other hand headed straight inside. It wasn't cold, but Thomas's whole body was shivering as he stepped inside.

After they got everything they needed, Benson closed the trunk door. He look up at the roof to see Pops looking back at him, cradling a hunting rifle in his arms. Benson gave an approving nod as Pops nervously nodded back.

When he stepped inside, the first thing he found was a pump-action shotgun laying on the table in the living room. Muscle Man walked in, "Yo Benson, Skips, what's up with Thomas?"

"It's-uh- it's a long story... Anyway, is this yours?"

Muscle Man replied, "Yeah man, Sheila here's my baby! I'ce had her since I-"

Benson quickly interrupted, "What all did you and Fives get?"

Muscle Man replied, "Bros, we got all the stuff from the snack bar. I also got all the walkie talkies."

"Did you fill up everything you could with water?"

Muscle Man stepped to the side, "Take a look." The kitchen counter was completely covered with cups of all sizes filled with water. "Hey, where should we crash at?"

"Just put your stuff here for now. I got to go do something," Benson said as he took out a small bag from the medicine supplies he got earlier.

"Wait, Benson you just got here. What do you need to do?" Skips asked.

This stopped Benson in his tracks. He sighed before turning back and saying, "The girl across from my apartment, Audrey, she's a diabetic."

Muscle Man questioned, "So wait, she's fat?"

"NO!" Benson angrily replied before calming himself down, "She's a Type 1 diabetic. It's when you don't have enough sugar in your blood. What's in the bag is insulin. She needs it and I have to make sure she's okay," he said as he started to head back.

"Benson!" Skips called, "We need you right now. You can head off tomorrow, but the people in this park: they matter more."

Benson sighed as he put the bag back down. Though he didn't like it, he'd wait until tomorrow. But for now, the people here needed him.

* * *

Rigby could hardly take any more steps. He felt like he was going to pass out. Usually, you could last three weeks without food. But after running at least 20 miles in one day without a single thing to eat, Rigby felt sick beyond belief.

"HELP!" erupted from the distance.

Rigby rushed over to where the scream came from. He hide in a nearby bush as he inspected the scene.

It was a couple, a man and a woman, being held up at gunpoint by two of the prisoners.

It would be easy to help them. All he needed to do was jump out with flame hands and they'd be scared shitless. He could easily drive them off without having to lay a finger on them.

But one of the prisoners had a backpack on. Rigby eyed it greedily. Who knows what could be in that bag?! It could be food, or water, or anything! Rigby stopped looking at the couple and the criminals and instead only gazed at the bag.

He had to have it. It had to be his. Everything he needed, everything wonderful in this new grey world, sitting right there, right before Rigby's very eyes.

_"What are you waiting for?"_

Rigby couldn't argue. It would be easy. Rigby drew his M1911.

"Just one bullet, that's all it will take."

_"Just one bullet."_

"Just one bullet." Rigby raised the gun to aim at the prisoner.

_"Just one bullet..."_

"Just one bullet..."

***BANG***

The gunshot surprised all of them. The man with the bag fell to the ground. The other prisoner took off running. Rigby stepped out from where he was hiding.

"Th-thank you!" the man said to Rigby.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Rigby snarled back to the couple. They also ran in a different direction.

Rigby ran out to the dead prisoner. He rolled him onto his back as he took the bag off of him. He opened it to immediately find a bottle of water. Rigby opened it and greedily chugged the entire bottle, water spilling out onto his cheeks.

He searched again and found a can of beans. He almost broke the can as he desperately opened it using a plasmid knife. The beans were very cold, but Rigby didn't care. Food was food. He quickly devoured what he could of what was in the can, baked bean sauce spilling all over his face. Rigby stuck his snout in the can to desperately try to get every last bit of food he could.

He felt satisfied, at least for the time being.

He looked back at the corpse. He didn't even take the time to realize that he just murdered this poor guy. But he didn't care. He got what he came for. "He deserved to die anyway, right? Yeah, he deserved it. He's the one who tried to mug those people. But then, if this man deserved to die, then what does that make me...?"

Rigby didn't want to dwell on it for too long. He searched the rest of the man's bag. Whatever food he found he stored into the bag slung on his back. Then he looked down at the man's hand. He was still holding his handgun. He pried the man's fingers free as he inspected the gun. It was an M9 handgun. Rigby hated 9mms, but he kept it anyway. You never know who'd need it.

The man also had a holster for his gun. To Rigby's surprise, it fit his M1911 perfectly. He took the holster and attached it to the bag strap that ran across his chest. He liked his gun conveniently being there rather than awkwardly in the bag on his back.

Rigby turned back to notice the sky. It was getting dark. He'd have to find shelter soon.

* * *

***OPTIONAL TO READ***

**For those of you that aren't familiar with guns: I have listed here most civilian bullets, from most powerful to least powerful.**

_**HANDGUNS:**___**.45****(Rigby's M1911, bigger handguns),**** .40**** (Mordecai's Glock)****, .38**** (Thomas's Revolver),**** 9mm** **(M9, MP5, most handguns and submachine guns), .22 (smaller civilian handguns)**

_**RIFLES:**_** .308 (Pop's sniper, most bolt action snipers), 7.62mm (M14, AK47, most semi-auto assault rifles), 5.56mm (M4, M16, most Assault rifles), .22 (Smaller civilian rifles**

* * *

Benson and the others had set up a radio in the living room. No matter which frequency they turned it to, there was nothing but static.

High Five Ghost interrupted saying, "What happens when the power goes out?"

The question caught Benson off guard. "I-I don't know..."

"What about radiation or something like that?" Fives asked again.

Skips answered this times, "All the bombs hit to the North, South, and East of us. The winds right now are blowing Eastward. I don't think we'll have to worry about fallout just yet."

Benson turned to see Thomas sitting alone in the kitchen, contemplating what had gone on that day. He lost him mom, his home, and he killed someone.

He then turned to Skips, "Do you think he'll be alright?"

Skips looked at Thomas before turning back to Benson, "He's been through a lot, give him time."

Pops quickly ran down the stairs. This startled everyone as the group stood at attention. Pops exclaimed, "It's Mordecai!"

The group quickly ran outside to find Mordecai getting out of the cart. It was night out, but they could clearly make out Mordecai from everything else.

Muscle Man drew his shotgun and pointed it at Mordecai. Benson quickly said, "What the hell do you think you're doing here?! I told you not to come back!"

Mordecai nervously replied, "I-I had nowhere else to go! This was the only place I could go."

Muscle Man said, "Well find someplace else!"

"This is the only place I have left! Can't we at least vote on this or something?!" Mordecai desperately pleaded.

Benson answered, "Alright fine, you're a dangerous sociopath with the potential to kill anyone of us here. ON TOP OF THAT, you lied to us for months keeping your crown a secret, and that makes you untrustworthy. So, no! Muscle Man?"

"Wait-!" Pop's tried to say.

Muscle Man spoke over him, "Hell no you're not staying here!"

"Can't we ju-" Pops tried again.

Fives simply said, "No way man!"

"Please!"

Thomas, who was standing in the back, simply answered, "If you're anything like Rigby was today... no."

Benson quickly said, "There, now you can just-"

"HOLD ON A MINUTE!" Pops interrupted. Everyone stood quietly for a moment. Pops slowly walked over to Mordecai, "I know you're mad, we can't just abandon Mordecai in his time of need. Whatever is wrong with him, maybe we can help him. But above all, he's one of us! I don't know whether my Papa is gone or not, but everyone here is my family, and that includes Mordecai and even Rigby," Pops turned sympathetically to Mordecai, "And you don't give up on family!"

"Thanks Pops," Mordecai said, thankful for the fact he might've just saved his life.

Everyone was completely silent. Finally, Fives broke the silence, "On second thought, I'm changing my vote to yes."

"WHAT?!" Benson stammered in disbelief. He turned to Skips, "Skips, you can't seriously side with this."

Skips sighed before speaking, "That crown is dangerous... But-"

"Skips...?"

"Mordecai just stopped that nuke today. I think that Crown might even be useful. I know the risks, but... I vote he stays."

Benson was left open-mouthed.

Pops gleefully said, "The vote is four to three, Mordecai's staying!"

Mordecai was so relieved, he actually hugged Pops for a quick moment.

The others began to walk back inside. Before Mordecai could, Benson stepped in his way., "You have something of mine..."

Mordecai walked back to the cart and returned with Benson's gun. It was still out of ammo. Benson took it and ominously said, "If you so much as lay one finger on anyone here..." Benson pulled the slide back. Mordecai gulped and nodded. The message went across.

As they went back inside, Pops said from the fridge, "Benson, there's still some frozen dairy treats in here."

Benson of course knew he meant ice cream. He called back, "You know what? It's the end of the world so... what the hell, Go for it Pops! Eat all the ice cream you want! I'll take over watch tonight."

Pops laughed with glee as he got the tubs of ice cream out of the freezer.

The ice cream was passed around and there was a happy moment of calm in the house. It grew to be a full out party. If none of them knew better, they wouldn't even know there was a nuclear war just outside of town.

Everyone joined in the fun, all except for Thomas. He sat alone in the living room, staring at the ground. He was met by Pops who was carrying a bowl of ice cream, "Come on Thomas, join in the festivities!"

Thomas just looked away from him. Pops's tone changed as spoke in a comforting tone, "I know it's hard. But sometimes it's better just to forget the bad things, even just for a moment." Thomas looked back at Pops. Pops only smiled as he offered the bowl again. Thomas sighed before finally accepting the bowl.

What a odd way to end the day. Just sitting around eating ice cream. It was... nice... it helped them all forget, just for a little bit. What a way to end a day...

* * *

It was night time already. Rigby had no place to sleep nor did he have the time to make a shelter. He was exhausted.

He took one last look over everything he packed. He almost laughed himself sick! All he packed was a bunch of clothes he never even wore, a knife he didn't even need, and a toothebrush and toothpaste. What the hell was he supposed to do with those?!

He put himself into a fit of laughter... until he found her necklace... then the laughter turned into grieving sobs. Oh God, what had he done?!

Don, Eileen, Everyone! All dead. All in one day! Everyone...

Rigby broke down crying. How could he? No no no no no, it wasn't him! It couldn't be him! there was no way! He'd done shit in the past but, no, no it couldn't be him! It- it was... it was that damn book! Yes that's it, it was that cursed book that did it all! And that _thing_... Yes, none of it was his fault!

_"...Are you sure about that...?"_

Rigby took another long look at the necklace. He collapsed on the ground, crying like a baby. "Eileen... I'm so sorry..." he said in between sobs. He could long, and he cried hard.

Eventually, Rigby managed to cry himself to sleep, right there on the forest ground.

* * *

What a day indeed. So much sadness... so much loss... all in one day. Was the worst behind everyone? Would there really be better days after this?

No, far from it. The worst horrors still lay in store. Sleep soundly while you can. The Lich has plans for you, for all of you.

The fight for your lives has only just begun...

* * *

**Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review.**

**Sorry it took me so long, this one was a little tough to write. The next ones won't take as long hopefully.**


	8. Rough Road Ahead

Mordecai sat there. Alone. He felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Or something close to it.

In his bedroom, he sat up in his bed, back against the wall, facing the side Rigby used to live on. Except Rigby was gone now. In one day he managed to not only kill his brother, but his girlfriend and half the city police force. And the worst part is that Mordecai let him get away.

He was holding the crown in his hands. It felt... warm in his hands. It was his only real friend now. The others in the park tried to cast him out yesterday. The only thing he felt secure with was the crown in his hands.

Suddenly, it started snowing. Not outside, the snow was in his room. It was a simple light snow fall, but it was still snowing. Mordecai held out his arm to feel the snow and see if it was really there or it was some delusion. But when the snow landed on his arm, it was warm to the touch. The white flakes didn't melt on his arm either, they simply stuck to him.

Though he didn't know why, he felt a bit of glee for this. Almost like how you feel waking up Christmas morning, knowing there's something wonderful in store. But to him, this light snow was more wonderful than anything he come across before! He almost started to laugh as he stood up and started to spin. He was in his own winter wonderland. Oh it was absolutely spectacular!

It started to snow heavier now. Until only thick lumps of snow rained down. Mordecai had no idea where the snow came from, nor did he care! He was having the time of his life!

The snow continued to the point where there was a foot of snow on the ground. It showed no signs of stopping! The snow wrapping itself around Mordecai, oh it was fantastic!

Until Mordecai caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. He turned to it. It was him, yet it wasn't him. The reflection was his own, but all Mordecai saw in it was Simon. That deranged bastard was the only thing Mordecai saw there.

He snapped to. The snow was still falling. His ears were ringing and his head felt like it was going to explode. He needed something. And fast!

Mordecai ran over to the dresser and took out his canteen of Gin. He took a quick sip of the alcohol. Nothing. He felt absolutely nothing. He tried again, this time with a large gulp. Still nothing. Mordecai held the canteen upward as he started chugging the canteen. He didn't stop until every ounce of alcohol was gone.

Mordecai turned around. Nothing. There was nothing. No snow, no ice. Just his room the way it was left before.

His headache didn't go away though. The pain was mostly on the back of his head. When he placed his hand there, he felt something he wasn't expecting. Hair. Not feathers, human hair was starting to grow on top and on the back of his head, growing through his feathers. "No no no, no this can't be! I-I can't be growing hair!" But why not? He was already growing a beard, why not some hair to go with it? It would look good on him. Wouldn't it, Simon?

Mordecai sat back on his bed. Alone. With only his own thoughts and the crown in his hands, doing things to Mordecai he could not possibly imagine.

* * *

Benson lay alone on the roof of the Park house, his eyes bloodshot and his mind foggy. He lay there cradling Pops's Sniper Rifle in his arms.

He agreed to take watch last night. Benson missed the entire ice cream party, but that was all right. He didn't mind. Pops would later bring him up his own bowl of ice cream, which was alright in Benson's mind. The bowl now lay along side him, the once frozen vanilla ice cream now a liquid soup.

Benson volunteered himself to be on watch. He had to be the one to do it, it was his duty after all. That was his whole being: to put everyone's needs above his own. It was the least he could do to make up for... well... Benson really didn't want to dive back into those thoughts right now.

But they crept in anyway. The memories, the horrors, slowly creeping their way back into Benson's mind. He tried to block them out but they came back much more fiercely now. It blotted out all other thoughts, he could only think of what had happened.

Benson heard their screams, heard their chants, heard the distorted fire of their weapons, heard the powerful roar of the fireball as a symphony of panic and chaos surrounded every turn. He felt the blow of his rifle on his shoulder. Felt the panic and the dumbfounded confusion around him. He saw them. All of them. Swarming every degree, every angle. All he saw, all he felt! Their cries for help burning their unforgettable smolder in Benson's memories forever more.

He couldn't take it anymore! Benson snapped himself out of sleep to full awakeness. There he was. Still laying on the roof. A sniper's arm cradled in the care of a shamed soldier. Benson let out an exhausted sigh. It was one of relief yet one of let-down. Relief for still being away from there, away from his memories, away from his past. Yet frustration that what had happened had indeed been reality at some point. All those years ago...

Benson was sitting upright now. He was on the back edge of the roof, facing away from the front of the house. It was day out. It had to be. He could see clearly, but the sun was absent in the sky. When he looked up, all he could see were gray clouds filling the sky above.

***_knock knock_****_ knock*_ **"Benson!"

The loud knocking took Benson by surprise. The voice was very, very familiar. He couldn't tell who exactly said it but the voice itself seemed to already put knots in his stomach.

Benson lay the sniper on the roof as he ran to the other edge of the roof. In front of the house were three cars. One of the cars was a van, the other two were jeeps. The worst part of them was the logo on the side of all three vehicles. It was a green tree in a yellow circle against a black background. It was the dreaded logo of the rival park, East Pines. Which meant the knocking could only be one person...

***_knock knock_****_ knock*_ **"Benson!"

Benson jumped down onto the porch roof and climbed through Mordecai's bedroom window. When he came downstairs, everyone was alert and worried. They were all standing around in the living room, waiting for Benson's next actions. Benson kept his face calm and collective. On the inside he was worried, but he couldn't show it on the outside. He couldn't scare the others.

Muscle Man came out of the kitchen, shotgun in hand. Benson gave him a nod of disapproval. He then motioned his head for him to put it back. Muscle Man, though he didn't like it, put his gun back in the kitchen.

When Benson opened the door, he wasn't surprised by who was there. Before him stood Gene, the snack machine who was the manager of their rival park. Alongside him stood four of his employees, all sporting their olive drab uniforms and Mac-10 machine guns at their hips. Their was a sixth person on the porch. He was standing behind the others, but Benson could only make out the red hoodie he was wearing.

"Benson! Nice to see an old friend isn't it?" Gene said in a friendly, welcoming manner. He spoke as though they'd been friends for years, even they tried to kill each other several times over.

Benson was a little confused now, but he still kept his guard up. "Gene? What are you-?"

Before he could finish, the man behind Gene stepped forward. He was a white ostrich wearing a red hoodie and a pair of glasses. There were bloodstains covering his hoodie. Benson remembered who this was, he once tried to replace Mordecai at the park. It was Jeremy.

Jeremy looked past Benson directly at Thomas. Thomas immediately backed away in fear. It couldn't be him! "That's him!" Jeremy exclaimed as he pointed at the terrified goat.

"Well boys, what are you waiting for? ...Grab him." Gene said calmly to his other employees. At once they stepped past Gene. They knocked Benson out of the way and made their way towards Thomas. Pops backed away terrified unsure what to do. Muscle Man managed to land a punch on one of them but was halted when the same man raised his machine gun to Muscle Man. The others managed to put up the same resistance before guns were drawn on them as well. Mordecai only stepped to the side. The armed men grabbed Thomas as they made their way outside. The entire ordeal lasted only seconds.

Benson picked himself off of the ground and ran after them. The others slowly followed suit.

"WAIT!" Benson screamed to the group. They were halfway between the house and their vehicles. Gene stopped in his tracks and turned to Benson. His henchmen did the same. Jeremy motioned to keep walking but Gene left him ignored.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Benson stammered as he walked towards them. Thomas was being held by his arms by two of the men. He tried to struggle out of their grips but it was pointless.

Gene said with a grin, "Well since you ask, I'm arresting him for a start. What happens next depends on the verdict."

"You can't arrest him!" Benson said.

"Oh, but of course I can," Gene said laughing, "Didn't you hear? The mayor shot himself in his office yesterday. Not only that, but the sheriff along with half of the police force were killed by, hehe, someone I think you're quite familiar with..."

"So what does tha-"

Gene cut him off, "It means that following martial law, since I am in the Army Reserves and also on the city council, I am now the stand-in mayor!"

Benson shook his head before saying, "Son of a-"

Gene stopped him, "Ah-ah-ah. If I were you Benson, I'd watch your tone. You don't want things to get out of hand do you?" Gene's grin only grew larger. He had Benson by the balls at this point. He was in charge. The very thought of that filling even more with a power-hungry glee.

Benson was going speak but stopped himself. What he would've said next would probably end up killing Thomas. He calmed himself before saying, "What are the charges?"

"Yesterday, your boy killed one of my employees in the street. He outright shot him point blank, no reason whatsoever."

"That's not what happened!" Thomas screamed from behind as he struggled to free himself. In response, Jeremy punched him in the gut to shut him up. Thomas hunched forward as he stopped struggling.

Gene let what happened go unnoticed, "It's a real shame though, he was one of my favorites. Well now we're going to put this boy on trial as part of my first act as mayor. I can't imagine things turning out well." Gene made sure those last words stuck with Benson. He was enjoying every second of this.

Benson walked towards him, pleading in a calm, yet worried whispered tone, "It was a rough day yesterday, heat of the moment, things happened. Everyone was in panic, you can't blame him. Come on Gene, what are you going to gain from this? Killing a boy on the first day? He's still a kid Gene. Just rethink this, please."

Jeremy shook his head, "You can't let this guy go."

All eyes fell on Gene. In the end the decision was his. He had his rival in a situational chokehold. He had his employee unable to do anything without his approval. He was in charge, everything was his. He was exactly where he wanted to be. The idea of this was too great for him. Gene had short fit of laughter. It confused everyone there, including Gene's own henchmen.

Finally Gene made up his mind as he calmed himself and said, "I don't like to make enemies the first day. And you're right, things happened, most without control. So... Alright, fine, let him go!"

The park crew let out a short cheer of relief. The guards let go as Thomas ran back to the group. Jeremy only gave a frustrated and angry expression at what had just occurred. Jeremy turned to his boss before quietly pleading, "Gene, this guy killed Chad! You can't just-"

Gene cut him off, "Remember what I taught you Jeremy: patience is a virtue. All good things come to those who wait."

The park was still having a relieved celebration for their newly released co-worker. "BUT..." Gene said, cutting the celebration short, "You must surrender any guns you own. That is the price of his freedom."

The mood of everyone in the park sank. Benson agreed as he walked inside the house. He was alone. "I can't give them everything, this place will be completely defenseless! ...I don't think they saw the shotgun in the kitchen or the rifle on the roof. Maybe I can get away with this..."

Benson returned holding only the Glock pistol Mordecai had used yesterday. "Here," he said handing it over, "It's out of ammo though, but that's it."

Gene objected, "That can't be everything. what about the gun that was used to shoot my boy?

Benson sighed as he ran back into the house. He returned with the .38 revolver, the same one Thomas used the day before. The same one that killed Chad.

Benson held it out. Jeremy was the one who took it this time. It was, after all, the gun that killed his best friend, he should be the one to keep it.

"There, that's everything." Benson said.

"Is it really?" Gene questioned.

"Do you wanna search us?!" Benson challenged as he stepped to the side.

Gene measured Benson's poker face. Again, he didn't feel like making any enemies today. "Alright, fine."

Benson let out a short sigh that went unnoticed by Gene. Gene took a step towards Benson. He then said with a lighter tone so only Benson could hear, "I hope we can leave this all behind us, Benson. This is a brave new world, and its better to have some friends at the top then it is to have enemies of the same caliber. After all, we wouldn't want things to get worse for your group, especially since one of them is a mass murderer," those words alerted Benson as Gene continued with a sinister tone, "Of course, none of you are still associated with him. But it would be unfortunate if someone were to, oh, I don't know, accuse you of still being with him. Think of how the town would react! Oh they'd rip you apart."

Gene began to walk away at this. He turned back saying aloud, "But you've got nothing to worry about, right? After all, there's no reason why we can't get along!"

Before the East Pines crew pulled out, Jeremy walked over to Thomas. He pulled out the revolver and held it at eye level. The muzzle was pointed straight up, but Jeremy just wanted Thomas to look at it. Jeremy said ominously to him, "Before this is all over, I _will_ kill you for what you did."

Jeremy then walked back with the others. They climbed into their cars and immediately drove off.

Everyone in the park was on edge as they stood in front of the house. Benson was stuck with a feeling between fear and relief. He had done it. He had saved Thomas and managed to at least still keep Muscle Man's shotgun and Pop's Sniper Rifle. But he was also afraid of this new "mayor," this new tyrant. He felt like things were going to go in a worse direction and fast. If that was the case, he needed to make sure everyone was okay. And that included Audrey.

"So what now?" Thomas asked concerningly, "Th-they're not coming back, are they?"

"I don't think so," Benson slowly replied, even he was unsure, "At least for now though. Skips, can I talk to you for a second?"

He and Skips headed away from the others as Benson said, "I have to head out today. I _have_ to make sure Audrey's okay."

"But what about Muscle Man? He has a girlfriend. Or Pops with his dad? You're not the only one here who has someone out there." Skips replied.

"Skips... this is something I need to do. After that we'll let anyone who wants to do the same."

Skips took a minute to respond, "Alright. Do what you need to. I guess that means I'm in charge until you get back?"

Benson nodded. After that he went into the house, grabbed the medicine, got into his car, and headed for Audrey's.

* * *

"Hey. Hey wake up bro. Come on, you over slept."_  
_

Rigby awoke in his pile of leaves. This had to be another dream, another nightmare. But everything he felt was real. He laid there in the woods, half awake. His arms were still scared from yesterday. Burns lined almost every inch of his forearms. But it seemed as though they were healing. They weren't nearly as bad as yesterday. Stains of dried blood still sat soaked into Rigby's fur. It was disgusting to think about.

Rigby finally opened his eyes. Only now he wasn't alone as he saw a pair of brown feet next to him.

He looked up to see who it was and standing there... at his side... was his brother Don.

No it couldn't be. It couldn't possibly be. But there he was. Don held out his hand to Rigby. Too full of relieved emotion to think, Rigby full-heartedly took his hand. Rather than pulling Rigby into seem dream or distorted nightmare, he simply helped him to his feet.

"Is-Is this real?" Rigby asked.

Don shrugged, "Sure, don't see why not." He held his arms out-stretched as he said, "Now how about some sugar?"

Rigby couldn't argue. He couldn't deny. It was his own brother. His own living brother. Rigby ran to him as he hugged his brother. "Don, I-I'm so sorry! I never meant for any of this to happen!"

"Shh, shh, hey little man. It's okay. It's alright."

"But-but how? That thing killed you!"

Don laughed a little before answering, "Oh that thing didn't kill me... You did... You killed me Rigby."

Rigby let go of his brother as he backed away. Don's smile was faded as it was replaced with an angry look of disgust. "You're the one who killed me Rigby! You are the reason I'm dead! The reason Eileen's dead, the reason everyone is dead!"

Rigby backed away but Don began to walk towards him as well. "You killed me Rigby! You killed everyone!"

Rigby drew out his gun from the holster on his chest, "Just stay back!"

"You killed me!" Don screamed. A purge of green fire erupted, engulfing Don. Don still kept walking, "You killed me!"

"NOOO!" Rigby screamed as he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. The gunshot was loud and he could hear the birds around him flee in terror.

Rigby opened his eyes, tears streaming down his face. Don was gone. There was no trace of him ever being there. It was just Rigby. Alone.

But not alone! The bushes began to rustle nearby. Rigby quickly dried his face as he turned to face who ever was coming. His gun pointed straight towards the rustling bushes. The sounds came closer. Until out of the underbrush came Doug.

Doug held his arms up as he panicked, "Woah there! Don't shoot! I just want to talk! I'm not armed, I don't have any guns on me! I just want to talk, okay?!" Doug was wearing an orange prison jumpsuit.

Rigby finally let down his guard as he put the gun back in his holster. Doug spoke next, "My my, The great Rigby. Here in the flesh. It's been a while huh? I guess the last time we met wasn't as... well, friendly."

"You guys were the ones that shot all the cops on the road," Rigby accused.

Don was silent for a moment before replying, "That wasn't our fault. Those cops shot first."

Rigby was silent for a moment after this answer before getting back on track. "What do you want?" Rigby questioned.

Doug responded, "I came to talk to you about some things. Yesterday, you killed one of our own."

Rigby coldly replied, "Your guys were mugging those people."

"I'm not going to argue that. The Daniel brothers always were loose cannons. I'm not mad about that. Frankly I don't give a rat's ass you killed him. I came to talk to you about an agreement..."

Rigby was a little surprised, "What kind of agreement?"

Doug began pacing back and forth, almost like he was rehearsing for a school play. It was a little odd to watch, but it was just one of Doug's old habits whenever he gives a long talk. "Modern prisons are a lot nicer then they were before. New exercise equipment, longer visiting hours, and, well, there is limited TV access. And I was watching TV right before this all went down, the news to be exact. And it surprised me when I saw the person who got me in jail slaughtering a whole SWAT team without a problem-"

Rigby felt guilty as Doug was talking. He interrupted him, "Get to the point."

Doug was surprised. He didn't expect to be interrupted so rudely. "Alright fine. My point, Rigby, Is that I know what you're capable of. I know you're a pretty dangerous person. That's why I want an understanding. I really don't want to mess with you. And it would be inconvenient for you to want to fight us. So I say we take sides of the forest. My side will take the South half of the woods, you can have to other half. And we'll never even need to know each other's there. You can do what you want, we'll do what we want."

Rigby took a moment to think about this. He hated Doug. Not just dislike, he _hated_ Doug. It was almost unknown where that hate came from. But Rigby had to admit, it was a nice sounding deal.

"So... Do have a deal?" Doug said with his hand out-stretched.

"One thing," Rigby said, changing the deal, "No one gets hurt. Not like those people yesterday."

"Of course! We wouldn't want it any other way." Doug slyly replied. Rigby didn't know whether he was lying or not. But now he felt as though he didn't have a choice. He took Doug's hand and shook it.

It was done, the deal was in effect.

"Well Rigby, I hope things can work now. By the way, just curious, what was it like?"

Rigby was confused by this. Doug continued, "What was it like killing all those cops?"

Doug could see in Rigby's face that this was frustrating him, but Doug continued, "I just want to hear it from the legend himself. You really scared everyone back at the prison. Especially when you shoot one of the Daniel boys."

Rigby looked down and softly answered, "You can't even imagine." He was too full of guilt to even express it.

"But killing your own brother too? And who was she...? The whore...?"

Rigby was enraged at this. He threw his arms down, creating fireballs in both hands. This shocked Doug as he took several steps back. Doug's eyes were fixed on those glowing balls of death.

Rigby spoke next, "What's stopping me from killing you right now?"

Doug spoke next, "Well if you did, maybe the boys back home wouldn't be as merciful as the Daniel brothers were yesterday. I mean, they at least were going to let those people live."

Rigby calmed down as his flames dissipated. He still felt only anger towards Doug.

Doug finally spoke before leaving, "You know Rigby, You and I are a lot alike..."

Rigby coldly replied, "We're nothing alike."

Doug took another look at Rigby. He noted the dried blood still coating his fur. "Hmm, we'll see," Doug said before walking away.

Rigby was alone again. Alone by himself. No one but himself, and that dreaded book.

He took another look at the dried blood on his chest and the burn marks on his arms. "I'm nothing like that monster... Nothing..."

* * *

_***knock knock**** knock***_

The sounds of someone at the door awoke Audrey from her sleep. It had been quite a day yesterday. Nothing like she'd ever experienced before. It was... terrifying.

But even more terrifying was the abrupt knocking on her door. She grabbed a vase as she headed for the door. Based on what she saw yesterday, whoever this is couldn't be up to any good.

She opened the door ready to smash the guy's head in and-

"Benson?" Audrey said as she put the vase down. He was the one person she wasn't expecting to see. She instinctively hugged him, like he was someone she'd known for a while. Benson wasn't expecting the hug but he gently returned it.

"What are you doing here?" Audrey finally asked breaking the hug.

"I came to make sure everything's alright on your end." Benson replied.

Audrey stepped back inside her apartment as Benson followed behind. She paced towards the window. "You should have been here yesterday, the entire street was getting ransacked. It was horrible!" she described as she nervously looked out her window.

Benson followed up, "The North side wasn't much better. Are you okay?"

Audrey turned back to him, "I'm okay. I-I've just been packing last night, and I-I didn't know where to go..." she paced over to a hastily made suitcase on the coffee table. She began to laugh as she said, "Here we are at the end of the world, and here I am packing photo albums! I don't even know where to go or what to do and- Oh dear!" Her laughter half turned into crying. "I didn't even stock up!" she exclaimed. An ironic laugh coupling her worried cry.

Benson walked up to her. "I got something for you actually," Benson said as he held out the small bag of insulin. "I thought of you when I was looking for supplies. It's not much, but I got what I could."

Audrey gasped as she opened the bag. "Oh what would I do without you, Benson?" She said drying her tears.

Benson finally asked, "You know you could come with me. Live at the park. It's not the best place on earth, but I doubt you'll find anywhere better."

Audrey thought about it for a moment. "Are you sure? I-I don't want to be a burden or anything."

Benson replied, "I'm sure. We'd love to have you."

Audrey paused a moment. She finally made up her mind, "Alright. Okay. Thank you Benson. For everything."

"Don't thank me yet..." Benson silently muttered as they left Audrey's apartment.

* * *

As they stepped out of the apartment building, Audrey and Benson were stopped by a loud uproar further in town.

"Should we check it out?" Audrey nervously asked as she placed her bags in the trunk of Benson's car.

Benson didn't really give a clear answer as he followed the commotion. Audrey didn't have much of a choice but to follow. The noise led them up 35th Street up to Mallory Lane and finally onto Main Street. As they grew closer, they heard a large shouting.

A large crowd was gathered at the Main Street intersection. It was the largest intersection in town. At the center was a make-shift wooden stage about five feet off of the ground. And standing on top of the stage was Gene. He was pacing up and down the stage. What ever he was saying had everyone there captivated. Benson and Audrey only joined the middle of it.

"AND here we stand today! While the world tears itself apart, Here we stand! While nothing remains but fire and ash, Here we stand! Against all odds, We survived! Most of you would call that luck, but I would call this something else. I would call this Fate!"

"Fate is why we're here today! Fate has given us a chance to start over! A chance to right what others have wronged! A chance to wipe the slate clean! A chance-..."

It was at that moment that Gene saw Benson standing in the back of the crowd. It caused him to pause for a moment. "A chance to remove hatred and petty rivalry! A chance to rebuild! I TELL YOU THIS! ... Things... will get harder, but we must bear through it, together! This is a brave new world, and we must meet it head-on! There are no enemies anymore! No friends, no family! We are all people! And the only way we will make it through this is by working together!"

"I stand before you as your new mayor to promise you that we will make it through these dark times!" Gene had the crowd with every word. But every speech needs a dramatic conclusion, "...And when they write about this war in the history books, THEY WILL write about us! Not just how we survived, but how we persevered! How we lived! How we rebuilt! HOW WE PREVAILED!" On this final phrase Gene threw his fist triumphantly into the air.

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd, all in full support of Gene. Many of them raised their fists along with Gene. The roar of the citizens now confirmed that Gene was now the new mayor. Gene turned and faced Benson. He picked him out from the crowd. Benson showed no signs of celebration, no signs of cheer or agreement. Only his blank stare challenging Gene. Benson knew Gene too well. He knew there had to be more tricks up his sleeve than this. No one else could see it, but he could... he could...

"Quite the speaker, isn't he?" Audrey chimed among the roars.

"Let's just head back to the car..." Benson said nonchalantly.

* * *

**Thanks for reading!**

**Please leave a review on what you think so far and any predictions, comments, or criticisms.**

**ALSO, I am writing a prequel story about Chad and Jeremy before the events of this story. Check it out if you can.**

**New chapter up in a few days!**


	9. First Order of Business

As he walked alone in the woods, Rigby had a lot to think about. For one, there was Doug. He didn't entirely feel right trusting him. He also didn't like the fact that he had the balls to threaten Rigby. Doug was a wild card. Eventually, Rigby would have to do something about him.

He also thought about everything that happened. The bombs, the murders, the chaos, EVERYTHING. All linked back to him. Each time he thought about it, it only made him cringe with anger and frustration... and sadness... Of course it was all him. The guilt was too much for him to bear.

"No, no it was the Lich! It was him! He was the one that did this!" Rigby concluded, desperate to remove any of the guilt off his shoulders.

That's it! After all, it was the Lich who killed those people. The Lich who started all this. The Lich who... made him kill... Don and Eileen...

Why Rigby, though? Why did the book come to him? Why not Mordecai or Benson or Skips or, hell, even Thomas? Why him? What was so special about him?

A sudden array of gunfire erupted in the distance. It was close, very close. It was a lot of gunfire!

Rigby ran after the sound. He almost toppled over while running. The cramps from yesterday still clung on. Still, Rigby followed the noise nonetheless.

When he arrived, he was too shocked for words.

It was the couple he helped yesterday. They were laying on the ground: dead. Their bodies lay riddled with bullets. There were bullet shells laying on the ground further away from them.

"No, no, God, why?" This shouldn't be happening. After everything, people were still dying. All because of the Lich.

As Rigby looked around the scene, he saw some footprints and broken branches: as if broken from someone walking through them. Rigby's hunches were telling him to go that way.

He was going to fix this. He was going to make things right. After everything, he had to do something to help.

* * *

Benson and Audrey stepped through the door to find everyone on edge. Pops had a distraught expression. Muscle Man was pacing back and forth cradling the shotgun in his arms. Fives was alongside him. Mordecai had a blank stare, like none of this fazed him. Skips still retained his calm composure. But Benson knew Skips; there was something else wrong with him.

Audrey became a little frightened upon entering the house. What scared her most was Muscle Man's gun.

Benson tried to calm everyone down, "Everyone, you know Audrey. She's going to be staying with us for a little while." It wasn't much, but seeing a friendly face could at least some good.

Audrey noticed the sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows strewn around the living room. She turned to Benson, "Where should I sleep?"

"I have a bed up in my office. You can stay there if you want."

"But where will you sleep?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll be alright."

Audrey nodded. As she walked up the stairs with her luggage, she turned back to Benson. "Thank you," she gratefully said before heading upstairs.

Benson turned back to the group, "Put that gun away before someone sees you with it! No one's supposed to know we have it anyway... What's the matter here, you all look like you've seen a ghost."

"Ahem, I'm right here!" Fives objected.

Muscle Man spoke next, "Some chumps were on the park. I scared them off with this but... just... I gotta check on Starla!"

Benson thought for a moment. "Alright, go ahead. But leave your shotgun here. Take Fives with you. And be back before it gets dark!"

As the duo left, Skips continued the conversation, "They were the same gang members we saw yesterday. They're getting further South..."

"We'll have to be more careful. No one can travel alone anymore. I don't know how easy this is going to be considering we can't use any guns."

Skips replied, "You don't think Gene is going to do something about this, do you?"

"Well whatever he does, it can't be good," Benson looked over his shoulder and saw Thomas in the kitchen. He looked like crap. "How is he?"

"He hasn't said a word this morning. He's been through so much already. But when he's ready, he'll open up to us."

Benson glanced over to Mordecai on the couch. He motioned for Skips to follow him onto the porch. When they were alone outside, Benson spoke, "How's Mordecai? Anything wrong with him?"

"Not that I can see: and that's what scares me..."

"Just try to keep a close eye on him, alright?"

Skips nodded as they headed back inside. Benson stood alone outside. Things were only going to get worse.

* * *

Rigby followed the trail, eager to see where it would lead. He was filled with an unstoppable anger. Nothing could channel it. Nothing, except blood.

Eventually he heard some voices further up the path. "Now I got 'em. Doug, you're going to be sorry..." Rigby thought to himself as he crawled ahead.

He hid in the bushes, expecting to see the orange of prison jumpsuits. Instead he found something different. He didn't see any inmates, only people. But these weren't normal people. Many of them had tattoos, not to mention ungodly poor clothing. Many of them had red bandannas on their heads. Some had them hanging out of their pockets instead. Almost all of them were carrying guns. Big guns. Some of them were sporting AKs while others had handguns down the back of their pants. They had an array of tents set up along with a large number of crates.

There were eighteen of them in total. They were all big and extremely unfriendly.

They were the Blood Syndicates: one of the gangs on the North side of the city. Though, why the hell were they all the way out here?

Rigby began to reconsider. True, he fought of a SWAT team, but that wasn't really him, it was the Lich. And SWAT at least had SOME restraint, these guys would shoot him on sight! And there were way too many of them!

And what would he do after the first shots?! True he could make a shield, but their bullets would eventually rip straight through it. SWAT generally uses smaller sized bullets, but these guys... these guys were loaded...

No... no it couldn't be done... Rigby couldn't take them on. There were too many, and he was too few...

Rigby turned and walked away, defeated. His pathetic attempt was ruined before he even started.

"I knew _you _couldn't do it!"

Rigby turned around to see Mordecai standing before him. No beard, no crown, just plain old Mordecai... "Wha-What are you-?"

"I was right! You can't fix it! You can't fix anything Rigby!"

"No- no that's not true!"

"You only cause problems! Problems you can never fix!"

"No, no shut up!"

Rigby's one-sided argument got the attention of the gang. They slowly grabbed their weapons.

"You're pathetic Rigby... You can't do anything... You only destroy..."

"NOO!" Rigby screamed as he hurled a fireball straight for Mordecai. The hallucination faded away instantly as the fireball continued. A fiery green explosion went off in the camp.

Rigby went sprinting straight for the gang. No fear, only bloodlust.

He drew his M1911 and pulled the slide back as he leaped over the bush.

Two of the men were caught off guard. Rigby shot both of them before they even raised their rifles.

A man on his immediate right. He was met by an uppercut from one of Rigby's plasmid blades.

Three of them leveled their guns at Rigby. Rigby formed a shield as he ran at them; bullets bouncing off his shield. His protection was breaking though.

Rigby threw a fireball at the group before his shield dissipated. The explosion threw the trio to the ground. They were clutching their faces as their very skin melted away.

The rest of the members were ready and had their guns pointed straight for Rigby. He immediately sent a jet of green flames in the middle of them. Most of them dived out of the way, but two of them were met with a fiery demise.

A wall of death now split the group in two. Perfect...

Rigby formed plasmid blades in his hands as he headed toward the left side.

A vertical slice. An uppercut. A furry of strikes ripped the group into ribbons. A cut through the waist. A stab in the chest. There were no survivors.

The green wall of fire slowly changed into a normal orange and yellow.

The gang members on the right side panicked. They couldn't see anything past the wall. All they knew of their friends was their bloodcurdling screams.

"Lite this sukka' up!" one of them screamed. The thugs blindly shot through the fiery wall. They had no idea what they were shooting, they simply sent a barrage of bullets for whatever was on the other side.

Nothing. No screams. No movement. Nothing. There were no signs of life on the other side of the fire. Some of them began to relax.

Suddenly Rigby jumped through the fire, pistol in hand. He quickly shot the three on the right. He sent a jet of flames into the man in the middle, practically lifting him through the air as the demonic flames ate through his body.

Rigby rotated, slicing a man in half. He sent a fireball hurling towards the last two survivors. The one fell to the ground dead but the other still lived. The last man fired his AK at Rigby. The raccoon immediately formed a shield. He dropped his gun and formed a plasmid spike in his hand. He threw it at the survivor. The blade hit him straight in the chest as he toppled to the ground.

Rigby formed fireballs in his hands: ready for what came next.

But there was nothing. There was nobody.

Rigby stood alone in a field of dead.

He relaxed as he picked up his M1911 and put it back in his holster.

How the hell did he just do this? He had no idea what came over him. Whatever did take over him, it felt... exciting...

Rigby heard a moan.

One of the gangsters was still alive. He only had a bullet wound in his leg. He was bald and only looked to be in his early twenties. He was African American. On top of that, he had a scar across the top of his head. It looked old, like he had it for years.

The thug reached for a handgun by his side. Rigby picked it up before he could reach it.

Holding him up by his shirt, he yelled, "You shot those people! You killed those people in the woods!"

"I-I don't know what the fuck you're talking bout man!"

"DON'T LIE TO ME! I know your kind! You're nothing but murderers!"

"Just let me go! So what if I killed those people! They couldda done the same to me! Just let me go!"

Rigby was now more enraged than ever. He couldn't let this man hurt anyone anymore. It would be easy to kill him right there. But the book was leading him on, giving him something much more satisfying to do. He would make sure he never could hurt anyone again...

He dragged the man over to a tree. The poor thug was screaming and kicking the entire way.

Rigby forced him up against the tree. He formed plasma as he molded it around the man's right arm and the tree. The stranger struggled and pulled with all his might, but it was no use; his hand was stuck there. Immovable.

"What tha fuck is this! What'ya do to me!?"

Rigby ignored him. He was concentrating on something else. He was trying to feel where the wind was coming from. The rustle of the trees and the breeze on his arm gave him the answer. The bloodthirsty raccoon then formed a fireball, this one requiring two hands, and sent it flying straight towards where the wind was coming from.

A large burst of green fire engulfed the trees. Soon the flames turned to their usually orange and yellow. But the wind was pushing the flames. Pushing it straight towards the two.

Rigby turned to him, "It's no use struggling. That is a magic bond you can't break. It will disappear over time..." Rigby turned back to the approaching forest fire, "...but that's something you don't have..."

Rigby then formed a saw like blade out of plasma. He tossed it at the man's feet, "It will take around ten or fifteen minutes for the stuff to become weak enough to break. I bet you can cut through your wrist in five. You better hurry though..."

Rigby turned and walked off. The man called, "What are you?! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

Rigby coldly replied, "I am hell on earth."

He walked off. The man desperately screamed, "WAIT! Don't leave me here! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!"

Rigby had a smile as he walked away, putting the thug's gun into his bag. He had done something good for once. At least that's what he told himself. The blood that drenched his chest would beg to differ, but Rigby ignored it. He was able to convince himself that what he had done was right.

Not only that, he had done that completely on his own. He didn't use the Lich or the book, just his own power. He felt like he could take on the world at this point. Nothing could stop him.

It was at that moment Rigby realized what he was meant to do. He was going to fix this mess. He had to. After all, Rigby was the only one who could.

The boy is coming a long way...

* * *

There was nothing but a crackling static coming from the radio. Pops tried every station, but the radio was not working.

It was night out. A light breeze rustled the leaves of the trees outside. After that day, even the slightest noise outside put everyone on edge.

The lights in the house were still on and the water was still running. It was a miracle the power was still working.

"So what happens when the power goes out?" Mordecai asked as he leaned against the wall.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," was Benson's reply. It didn't satisfy anyone.

Still, nothing but static remained from the radio.

A knock on the door alerted those in the house.

"Who's there?" Skips called.

"Relax, its me and Fives!" Muscle man called.

Skips opened the door as the duo walked in. "How's Starla?" Benson asked.

"She's doing alright so far. She's not coming over though, she's staying with her parents."

"Anything happen here?" Fives asked.

Benson looked back at Pops fiddling with the radio before turning back, "Nothing but static."

"_He-_**...**_Fell-**...**icans**...**_" came crackling through the radio. Soon the voice became clearer.

"Oooow, come quick everyone!" Pops called as everyone grew closer to the radio.

"_Th-**...** th-the Emergency Broadcast Station. I am your current President, John Bahuer. It grieves me to inform you that yesterday, the United States of American was deliberately attacked with Nuclear Weapons by the nations of Ch-**...**ist-... and Russia. The cause of these attacks is unknown. I can assure you however, that we are not out of the fight. We have dealt equal force to these nations and we are fighting back courageously. We will not surrender, We will not give up. I can assure you the we will win this war! That is all for now. Thank you, and God bless America!" _

Benson pondered, "Bahuer... Bahuer... does that name sound familiar?"

"Wasn't he- uh... I think he was..." Audrey continued.

Pops finally answered, "I believe he was in charge of the state of Wyoming."

"They went that far down?" Mordecai said, hardly believing it.

"So that means... the President, Vice President, all of Congress... They're all dead. Even most of the Governors." Benson concluded.

_"ATTENTION ATTENTION," _the radio crackled once again, this time in a different voice, "_This is the Emergency Broadcast Channel. This message will repeat. The following areas are deemed contaminated and unsafe to live in: Anywhere South of Boston. Anywhere North of Pittsburgh. All of Florida. All of the East Coast. Anywhere East of Kentucky. All of the States along the border of Mexico. All states along the Gulf. All states..."_

Thomas walked over to Benson. "He-hey, can I talk to you? Alone?"

Benson agreed as Thomas followed him outside. They walked off the porch and further into the park, away from the house.

The poor boy looked on the point of tears, "I don't know how long I can hold this in anymore! I shot Chad yesterday! That's all I can think about! I couldn't sleep last night! Everytime I closed my eyes I saw his staring back at me! What kind of person am I?!"

Benson reached out, "I know exactly what you're going through, I've gone through it before. But you have to understand that you can't change what happened."

Thomas was softly quivering as Benson spoke. Thomas spoke again with tears streaming down his face, "Do you know what the worst part of this is? My own mother died yesterday! I-I hardly even feel sad for her! I don't know if I even feel anything for her anymore! That's not right for a person to do! And all I can think about is how much she would hate me for what I did yesterday!"

Benson rested a hand on Thomas' shoulder. "You can't be this hard on yourself. I know its terrible, but what happened yesterday happened. It was either his life or yours and you made the choice to live. But right now, you can't dwell on the past. Things are going to get worse and you need to focus on what's in front of you. I know its hard, but need to learn to forgive yourself and forget it."

Thomas dried his eyes. "Thanks Benson. I just... I really miss my mom right now."

"I know. But keep her memory close, not Chad's. Those are the memories that count."

Before Benson turned to walk back, Thomas stopped him, "Wait! What about still seeing Chad? You said you went through this before. Does it ever... you know... go away?"

Benson sighed as he said, "It never goes away... you just learn to live with it... Come on, let's head back inside."

Before they even took ten steps, a sudden **_thud_** erupted behind Benson. He turned to see Thomas fall to the ground and three strangers behind him. One of them drew a knife and charged at Benson, the knife aiming for his side.

Instead of backing up, Benson lunged forward. The knife flew behind Benson as he locked the elbow of his attacker with his arm at hip level. As he drew in, Benson used his other hand to punch the attacker dead on in the face causing him to lean back. Benson took advantage of his opponents disorientation by then twisting the knife arm of his attacker with both hands, putting him in a wrist-lock, and taking his knife. The entire maneuver took mere seconds.

Benson moved forward with the knife as the other three moved back. Thomas climbed back to his feet and stood behind Benson in a timid fighting stance.

There was a short stand-off between the attackers and Benson and Thomas. Finally one of the men said, "Yo' man, fuck dis sheet!" as he drew out a knife of his own.

He got ready to charge when all of a sudden, four lights shined behind them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" called a voice behind the lights.

It was Gene with four of his men standing alongside him. They were carrying bigger machine guns (most likely taken from the police armory). They had flashlights taped to the barrels. "Drop the knife and put your hands behind your heads!"

The three thugs ran off at this. Two of Gene's men ran after them.

Gene turned to Benson, "Those shitbags were Blood Syndicates, that gang on the North side. They're getting further South. If something isn't done soon, they'll rip the town apart. Glad I came here when I did though, you boys alright?"

"Th-thanks," Benson said, unsure of Gene's intentions.

Gene turned and looked at Thomas for a moment, analyzing the man who killed his employee before turning back to Benson, "You should be more careful at night."

"Why'd you help us?" Benson questioned, "I thought you didn't really like us."

Gene chuckled before replying. There was a separate reason entirely, but wh couldn't reveal it just yet. Instead he said, "Well, why not? I told you its good to have friends up top. And friends do things for each other... There's another reason I came here tonight. I'm calling a town meeting tomorrow, about six blocks up from the Main Street intersection. I need you and your guys to, ahem, handle... security..."

"What kind of security?" Thomas asked.

"Well, just in case something happens or any fighting breaks out. Don't worry, I'll supply the guns, but of course you'll give them back at the end. After all..." he said turning to Benson, "I could use someone with... military experience... But I'm saving this city tomorrow. I'll need all hands on deck."

"And what if we say 'no'...?" Benson asked

"Well then... I guess there's no reason for you and your kind to live in my city anymore. Goodnight."

Gene and his men turned and headed off. Benson felt a little embarrassed after what Gene had said about his experience.

As they walked back to the house, Thomas asked, "So how did you do that? I've never seen anything like that before!"

Benson felt nervous. He vaguely answered, "Well, you know, I get around. Anyway, I don't the guys will like what we have to tell them."

* * *

It was around 12:30 when Mordecai awoke. It was a few hours since Benson broke the news. Everyone was asleep in the house. Everyone except Mordecai. He sat up, half asleep, half awoke.

The Crown that sat on next to his bed was calling to him. It wasn't _saying_ anything, but Mordecai could feel it slowly drawing him in.

Icy chills ran through his body as he reached for the Crown. Every pulse and nerve in his body telling him to take it. Take it and put it on!

Something stopped Mordecai. He remembered... he remembered _her._ He remember her reaction. He remembered feeling the guilt rush over him as she came towards him. And he especially remembered the words she said to him...

Mordecai snapped to, if only for a moment. He couldn't take it, he needed something, and fast. He needed anything to calm to impulses that drove him to embrace that icy bliss.

His canteen was empty. In a brazen effort, he ran out of his room and quickly shuffled down to the kitchen, almost tripping over himself. He carefully made his way through the living room, making sure not to disturb Muscle Man who was a asleep on the couch.

"Where is it?! Where is it?! WHERE IS IT?!" he thought to himself as he tore through every drawer and cupboard. Until finally, he found what he was looking for. It was a bottle of Whiskey, completely full and unopened.

He desperately unscrewed the cap. He felt tempted to chug the bottle whole.

"A little late for a drink, isn't it?" a voice called.

Mordecai panicked as turned to encounter the voice, dropping the bottle. It fell to the floor as the alcohol came pouring out of it. Mordecai quickly bent down and grabbed the bottle.

He looked up to find Skips standing there, arms crossed.

Mordecai stood there with the bottle, unable to react. His entire body was shivering though.

Skips took a step forward, in return Mordecai took a step back in fear. "You want to take it away, don't you?! You want to take it all away!" Mordecai said to him in a panicked tone.

"I just want to talk that's all. I just... want... to talk..." Skips replied, keeping things slow and calm.

Slowly, Mordecai calmed down. The Simon side left him. He put the bottle on the counter as he spoke, "Sorry about that. I just... I don't know..."

"It's getting worse, isn't it?"

"I-I uh... it's, uh, it's... *sigh* it's been harder."

Skips replied, "I know it has, but is alcohol really the best cure?"

"I don't know what else is out there. Every day, I feel it trying to get in my head, telling me... things..."

"I can only imagine."

"I guess this means you'll be taking it off me, huh?" Mordecai asked.

Skips didn't really knew what to do. He had come across a lot of supernatural stuff over the years, but this... this was still new... There were too many possibilities, too many things he could go wrong. He knew this would do bad things to Mordecai. On the other hand, if he took it, then what? Would it corrupt him too before he could handle it? What would happen to Mordecai without the Crown? He was already too far gone, the relapse might be even more dangerous than the Crown. Where would he hide it anyway? Anywhere he hid it, it could be found. By him, by Mordecai, by anyone. Too many risks. Too many variables. Skips needed time to think this over. He needed time...

Skips finally said, "For now, just try to manage. If you ever feel like this again, find me. Immediately. I'll also try to get something different to cope with it. In the meantime, only resort to that when there's really nothing else. Goodnight, and get some sleep."

Mordecai was left alone in the kitchen. He turned back to the counter, staring at the bottle. It felt like eternity. Finally, he grabbed the alcohol, took a large gulp, and headed back upstairs.

He needed his sleep for tomorrow.

* * *

There was a large crowd gathered at the spot Gene had told Benson. There had to be at least over a thousand people there.

Oddly enough, if you looked on the map, you'd find that the spot was in the exact center of town.

Gene's guards stood in the middle of the crowd, splitting them in two between North and South. Everyone from the park, except Audrey, joined them in the middle. They were armed with low-end shotguns and bolt-action rifles: nothing real fancy. Gene made sure they didn't get any of the more advanced hardware his men had.

It took a little bit of time to notice, but eventually Benson realized that barely any of Gene's men were there. It was only a handful along with the park crew. He didn't even see Jeremy.

Gene wasn't there either.

On the North crowd, Margaret walked up and down the line looking for a familiar face. She looked and saw Mordecai's back. He was guarding the South half, facing away from her. "Mordecai!" she called to him. He didn't respond. "Mordecai!" Again, Mordecai didn't even turn his head. Maybe he couldn't hear her or maybe he didn't want to hear her.

She turned and saw another familiar face, "High Five Ghost! Over here!"

Fives floated his way over to her side of the crowd. He held a Ruger handgun.

"Do you have any idea what's going on here?" she asked intently.

"Sorry, they didn't tell us anything."

"But why are we split in half like this?"

Fives responded, "I don't know. All they told us was to guard here until something happens. They didn't even tell us why Gene brought us here."

No one knew why they were there. All anyone knew is that Gene called a town meeting and it was urgent.

Suddenly an 18 wheeler truck drove through the center of the crowd. It went right in the split Benson and the others were maintaining.

Gene and a couple of his guards, including Jeremy, climbed on top of the tractor trailer. He had his back to the crowd on the North side of the truck and faced the larger South half.

"You must be wondering why I've called you here. We have a grave problem facing our town. Many of you have witnessed it first hand." What Gene was saying sparking murmurs and whispers among the crowd.

He pointed his hand out to the North side of town as he spoke, "The North side of this town is home to thieves and murderers! Notorious gangs that cause havoc and destruction. So far, they have stayed on their side, put not for long! They will come to our side! They will take what we own! They will kill our own! They will tear us down before we have a chance to rebuild!"

The South side of town was agreeing with every word. The older members of the crowd were a little quiet but the young... the students, the young adults... they ate up every word. They were the most easily influenced. However, only outbursts of protest came from the North side. Gene's guards on the Northern half raised their weapons to quiet the crowd. Fives, Benson, and Thomas only stood horrified at what was unfolding around them.

Gene was pacing back and forth on the truck, the South half of the city practically eating out of the palm of his hands. "SO WHAT DO WE DO WITH THEM?! Do we ignore them and let them rape and pillage our half of the city?!"

"No!" "Hell No!" erupted from the South crowd.

"Do we restrain them with laws, when they ignore every establishment?!"

Again the crowd erupted.

"Do we fight them, when they are too numerous and hide everywhere?!"

Again the crowd erupted.

"No. No, I'll tell you what we'll do..."

Benson heard the muffle of cars and trucks off in the distance coming closer and closer.

"WE SHUT THEM OUT!"

As Gene said this, a convoy of trucks and cars arrived with Gene's men inside. They parked right up to the truck Gene was on. "STARTING NOW, It is illegal to step cross this barricade! It is illegal to associate with anyone on the other side! Anyone caught doing these acts will be severely punished! THEY CAN DESTROY THEIR HALF... we'll keep ours..."

Whatever protest was on the South side was deafened by the shouts of support from the younger members of the crowd.

The North side, however, only erupted screams of objection and dismay. Many ran straight for the barricade, with only Gene's guards to stop them.

Benson was fighting to retain his shotgun as another person was grabbing on to it. Benson threw the guy back and turned to Gene yelling, "Gene, what the hell are you doing!?"

"I'm fixing this mess, Benson!" Gene proclaimed.

"This is insane!"

"THIS is the solution!" Gene turned back to the South side, "Grab furniture, cars, sheet metal, anything you can!"

Seeing no threat from the South side, many of the guards moved over to the North side.

Mordecai stood, rifle in hand, trying desperately to fend off the crowd. Margaret was fighting her way to move through the crowd to him. "MORDECAI!" she called out to him.

"Margaret-? Margaret!" Mordecai replied as he tried to make his way through the crowd. This may be the last time they ever talk. He didn't want to end it the way he did yesterday.

Before Mordecai could get to her, someone in the crowd punched him in the jaw. Mordecai recovered as he slammed the butt of his rifle into the man's chest.

Thomas was having an equally difficult time. Pops only cowered back against one of the trucks, terrified at what he saw. The wall was hastily being built behind them all the while.

Suddenly, one of the members of the gangs pulled out a glock handgun and shot wildly towards the barricade. Jeremy, who was standing alongside Gene, spotted the thug out of the crowd. He raised the barrel of his M4 to the man and fired two shots. The thug fell back to the ground dead.

Jeremy raised his gun to the air and fired several more shots.

Shrieks and screams of panic erupted from the North side, even some from the South side. Many in the crowd found it wasn't worth the possibility of death and fled the scene.

Jeremy then lowered his barrel. He saw Thomas standing there. Jeremy aimed his gun straight for Thomas' head. His finger steadied on the trigger, sweat beading down his forehead as carefully aimed.

Gene pushed Jeremy's barrel away as the shot rang out. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Jeremy?!"

"Y-you saw that assho-"

"Goddammit! Now is not the time Jeremy! There will be a time, but not now..."

Gene turned back to the North crowd. What was left of the crowd scattered. Soon it was only the guards and the park crew left.

Mordecai looked around. Margaret was gone. He didn't even get a chance to actually apologize or even say 'good-bye.'

Thomas walked out with a split cheek. Mordecai had a cut along his chin. Pops, Skips, and Fives came out unscathed though.

.

The wall building slowed down afterwards. By the end of the day, Gene had accomplished what he wanted. There lay a wall along the center line of the city. It was made with everything from trucks to cars to furniture to sheet metal.

The barricade simply became known as "The Wall."

This "Wall" was their new life. It kept the criminals out. But now Gene needed to take steps even further.

This was the new law of the land...

* * *

**Well that was insane... What's going to come next from Gene? How's this going to work out?**

**What do you think so far? Don't forget to follow/favorite OR write a review for any comments, criticisms, predictions, or suggestions.**

And President Bahuer is pronounced like "Bay-er" (He is not a real person, just an OC). I actually got inspiration for the radio bit from the book _Alas, Babylon._

**On a side note, someone asked if there were going to be any other Regular Show villains such as the Hammer, Death Bear, Destroyer of Worlds, etc. To that I say: probably not. When I chose my Regular Show villains, I wanted something better than the "GRR BIG SMASH GRR!" I wanted someone deceiving. Someone articulate, dangerously intelligent, whose mere voice could make a blatant lie seem like an honest truth. OR someone hell-bent on such a fiery rage that they will stop at no lengths to get what they want. THOSE in my opinion are the best villains you can get.**

**New chapter in a few days.**

**DON'T FORGET to read my prequel story, "_You and Me"_**


	10. Brain Damage

**Sorry for the delay in releasing, I'm getting bogged down with homework, Boy Scouts, and other things. I will try to release my chapters on the weekends from now on.**

* * *

"_TSSS_ Ow! Okay, ooh okay that stings!" Thomas squealed out.

"Would you just be quiet for just a second? I've dealt with kids more calm than you," Audrey remarked as she patted the cut on Thomas' cheek with a cloth. "I didn't even add the antiseptic yet."

"Yeah, uh, could we OW-... could we skip that?"

High Five Ghost remarked, "Come on Thomas, stop being such a big pussy!"

"Shut up man! OW!"

This erupted a chuckle from the others there. Thomas felt a little embarrassed, but at least Muscle Man was in the shower and not there to ridicule him.

Skips walked up to Benson and Pops saying, "Mordecai's been up in his room ever since we got back. Do you think maybe we should go check on him?"

Pops nodded at this notion. Benson however felt a little more pessimistic on it: "To be honest, I still think we should have left him out."

"But Mordecai is still one of us. We can't abandon our friend in his hour of need!" Pops objected.

Skips spoke, "Are you afraid of him?"

Benson replied, "A little... yes... I just don't want to see any of us get hurt..." he said as looked back at the others still joking around. How much danger were they really in with a ticking time bomb upstairs, ready to go off at any minute? Did they have any idea? ...But then again, what about Mordecai? What about his sake? "...but he is still one of us. Alright, let's just make sure everything's alright with him."

When the trio arrived in Mordecai's room, they found him outside on the roof, feet dangling over the edge with the crown fiddling around in his hands. His face wasn't visible, but it was easy to tell by his stature that he was depressed about something.

"Well, Benson, you going to talk to him?" Skips implied.

"What? Why me? Why not you or Pops? He actually likes you two and won't have the urge to kill you," Benson objected.

Skips replied, "Because for all he knows you would've thought it better if he was dead. You have to at least try restore some kind of trust!"

"Why?! By just letting my guard down until he hurts someone else? You saw Rigby too, don't tell me you want another one of those episodes!"

Pops intervened, "Things will only get more difficult. What you're saying will make it even more difficult."

Benson sighed, "Can't believe you're making me do this." He walked out through the window onto the roof. Pops and Skips were right behind him. He nervously said to Mordecai, "Hey, you feeling alright?"

"What do you care?" Mordecai bitterly replied.

"We're just a little concerned for you..."

"Really? It sure as hell seemed like it the other night... You think I'm some kind of monster don't you?"

"Regardless, you are still an employee of this park! I know I said some things, but I'm just looking out for everyone here; and that includes you."

"Does that include Rigby too...?" Mordecai responded fiercely. Benson had absolutely no idea how to respond. "Hmm, that's what I thought..."

Benson turned back to Pops and Skips. He wasn't getting anywhere with this. If anything, Benson was making it worse. Pop's stepped forward, "So why are you up here Mordecai?"

Mordecai changed his tone for the friendliest of the three, "I- I didn't... even get to say goodbye... I still had so much I wanted to say to her. If anything, 'sorry' would be a start. I just ran from her the other day. The way she looked at me... After everything I've done to her... Margaret... I'm- I'm sorry... I'm sorry! I'm so sorry my princess..." Tears started to form under his eyes.

Pops tried to comfort him, "I think Margaret understands." It wasn't any use as Pops was ignored.

Mordecai turned to them, eyes watery, "Do you know what this is like?! To always feel like something is working its way into your brain? To know how many people I could hurt?! It wants me to put it on! Every day! I have to get drunk just to stop it. It's getting harder to tell what's real and what's not! What do you want from me Simon?! Why are you torturing me like this?!" Skips' face turned pale upon hearing this. Mordecai continued, "Why?! Why won't you come back to me Betty?! PLEASE! I'm sorry! All I want is you to love me again-no I don't want to-please-just let me go-WHY IS MY HEAD ALWAYS HURTING!" Mordecai almost keeled over. He stood before the others, holding onto his head, crying uncontrollably.

He looked back up at them, "There's someone in my head, but it's not me..."

Skips made up his mind. He couldn't keep speculating what might or might not happen if he did or did not take the crown. But this can't keep going on! "Mordecai," Skips said calmly, "Mordecai, I think it would be best if you gave us the cro-"

"NO DON'T TOUCH IT!" Mordecai screamed as he backed up. He was standing at the edge of the roof, Crown raised above his head; ready to put it on.

"Woah, woah, just take it easy!" Benson said as he and the others took a step back. "We don't want anything to happen."

"NO, I NEED IT! It's mine! It's my crown! You can't have it!"

Skips calmly said, "Mordecai. Look at yourself... just take it easy... no one here wants to hurt you... No one's taking anything... I'm just asking, would you like us to take the Crown off your hands?"

"I-... I don't know... I'm- not sure. Just please, promise me it'll make the voices stop..."

Skips nodded. Mordecai lowered the Crown from the air, everyone relaxed a little. Benson held out his hand. Mordecai slowly put the Crown into his hands.

Everyone took a sigh of relief. Mordecai spoke, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Benson said struggling to stay calm, "It's, uh, it's alright. No one got hurt at least. Do you want to come back downstairs and join everyone else?"

"Yeah. Yeah I think that would be best..."

They all went out of the room to head downstairs. Benson stayed behind though.

"Pops, Skips, could I talk to you for a second?" Benson asked from the room. The two came in to see what Benson wanted. He was holding a half-empty bottle of whiskey. "So this is what he's been taking? I'm not so sure this is the best thing for him now."

Pops asked, "Didn't you go to the hospital? Is there anything you acquired that we can use?"

"Maybe a couple pain pills. But I don't know if drugs are a better replacement. But maybe... I don't know. Anyway, Skips: get rid of this thing as soon as you can." Benson ordered as he handed the Crown over.

Skips said nervously, "Well... maybe we shouldn't get rid of it..."

"Skips? What the hell?"

"What I mean is, what if something starts happening to Mordecai without the Crown? What if he gets sick or loses his memory... or even dies? We have no idea what could happen. Plus, you saw what he did with that bomb! What if Gene pulls something again, something worse than a wall. Maybe he could use the Crown if something happens. All I'm saying is that we shouldn't just plain get rid of it without thinking about these things," Skips said trying to convinced them. Though what he said was true, there was still another threat he was terrified of. Something lurking in the depths of some poor soul's mind.

Benson thought about it. He didn't like any of his. Mordecai, Rigby, this whole magic shit, the world in chaos around them. He had to think for a moment. "So... where would we keep this?"

Skips replied, "I've got a few places in mind."

"And you can guarantee Mordecai will never get it?"

"Trust me Benson, he'll never find it."

"... I trust you Skips, do what you think is right..."

As the three walked downstairs, the atmosphere was more anxious than when they left. Everyone who was there had a nervous look on their faces. Mordecai felt a little guilty being the object of their thoughts.

"Everything's fine, there's no need to worry," Skips tried to reassure everyone.

Audrey approached Benson. She took him to the porch where no one else would hear. "Benson... I'm scared. I'm scared of this whole mess. This war, Mordecai, Gene, everything. I don't know how to handle it! I just kinda wish I would wake up in my apartment like nothing happened!"

Benson gave a comforting hug, not the kind you'd give a lover but just a friendly, comforting hug. "Hey, don't worry. I'll make sure nothing happens to any of us. I promise."

"But what about you? Don't you feel anything? Sad? Worried? Frightened? Anything? I just want to hear something from you Benson."

Benson dodged the question saying, "Right now my only concern is keeping everyone here safe."

Audrey spoke, her eyes started to water a little, "My parents were up in New York City and my brother has a job in Chicago. I know the're gone, but I can't help but feel like they're out there... somewhere... alive... I know, I know it's stupid." she dried her eyes before asking, "What about you? Don't you have any family?"

Benson answered, his eyes avoiding Audrey, "My- my parents died in my twenties. I have a sister who lives in Pittsburgh, but we grew distant. We haven't spoken in years though. I know she's dead but, I don't know, I don't feel sad for her. Right now this park is my family."

"Is that why you're so determined to keep everyone safe?"

"..." Benson remained silent as he felt the guilt creep up, now invading his mind. He couldn't repress the thoughts as they blotted out everything else. Benson backed from her as he turned away. The memories were becoming too much to bear.

"What's wrong? Did-did I say something?"

Benson struggled, to remain alright, "It's nothing. Don't worry, I'm alright."

She sensed something was wrong, "No, I want to know why you're upset. Don't worry, you can tell me. I'm here for you, Benson."

Benson sighed before saying, "Don't worry, I'm not sure I want to talk about it yet. But I am fine."

Audrey seemed a little aggravated with his lack of a response. Benson spoke again, "Thanks though. For being concerned at least."

"Well we're both trapped in the same house, so I kind of have to be," she joked. She spoke more seriously, "But in all honesty, you know I'm here for you Benson."

All of a sudden the lights inside the house went off. "Aww, what?! Are you serious?" Fives complained from inside.

Audrey and Benson ran back inside. There was still light outside so the house wasn't in complete darkness. Pops informed them, "It appears the electricity has malfunctioned."

Muscle Man came down the steps with a towel around his waist, "Bros, the freaking water shut off!"

"Why'd it take so long for the power shut off? Shouldn't it have done that the first day?" Audrey inquired.

Thomas spoke, "Every power plant, at least modern, can temporarily run by itself for a day without human interaction. Ours is nuclear, so it can last around two or three before the core blows out the pressure in the generator." Everyone stared in complete surprise a at Thomas' knowledge. "...What? I read things..."

Fives switched the topic back, "So how are we going to go to the bathroom?"

"Or shower? I'm still not finished yet!" Muscle Man said.

Benson was caught off guard, "Well... uh, for going the bathroom, I guess we should get a bucket or a shovel. As for showers, well, we don't want to waste any of the water we already have, so I guess we'll just have to use the lake."

There were general groans of disapproval. "That's sick! I don't want to be washing my clean bod in any filth water? Do you know who you're talking to bro?!" Muscle Man argued. The irony levels were through the roof.

"Well that's all we have for now, and who knows how long we'll be stuck with it."

"Fine! But don't any of you ladies come outside while I'm in the lake!"

"Trust me, we wouldn't want to," Thomas said as Muscle Man exited the house.

"Hey Benson," Mordecai called from the kitchen, "We still have stuff in the freezer. And we still have everything in the meat locker."

Skips turned to everyone, "What do you say? How about a grill fest before everything goes bad?"

There was a unanimous agreement for a bar-be-que. "What the hell, let's fire up the grill!" Benson concluded.

Audrey stumbled a little as she headed up the steps.

"Hey, you alright?" Benson asked her as she shuffled up the steps.

"What? Oh yeah. I just need to take my insulin. Don't worry about me, the most I'll get is a head ache for the night."

Benson felt a little worried for her. About them. How's everyone else going to react to the lack of power? What about Gene?

No one else had this in mind though as they all enjoyed their grand bar-be-que.

* * *

He needed to be silent, cautious, careful.

In the clearing a few deer were grazing. It didn't seem like any of them knew the world outside.

He would have to be quiet not to alert them yet.

A smell in the air, a thick scent of dried blood hung overhead. The deer were more alert now, looking around every edge of the woods.

Still hidden. Only got one shot.

Aiming, stealthily hidden.

One bullet...

_***BANG*** _

One of the deer in front fell to the ground, dead. The rest fled in terror.

From a nearby bush, Rigby emerged. He scanned around, checking if there was any other dangers. All clear, he made his way over to his fallen prey.

His fur was still coated with dry blood. He was absorbed in an aroma of death. In a way, Rigby thought it was kind of nice. It gave him a certain aura of being an agent of justice. After all, those men were the ones that sinned, not him. Rigby didn't mess up, he never messed up. It was those low-lives that killed those people, not him. Not even for a second was Rigby ever even sorry. They deserved their fate... all of them...

And on top of that, the blood gave him character, almost like some sort of badass movie hero. At least the Lich thought so too.

When he approached the deer, he noticed something wrong: patches on its leg and chest were balding and there were light burn marks. Radiation poisoning. Rigby knew not to eat it, but the grumbling of his stomach was giving him a different response.

Rigby formed a plasmid knife, ready to carve out the deer. He never field stripped a deer before, but now was a better time then never. He raised it up and-

_"Don't eat it,"_

The Lich made him freeze for a second.

After a little bit of thinking, Rigby reluctantly concluded, "Alright, fine. I-I don't need it now. I can wait..." But the pains in his stomach were still unbearable.

Suddenly he heard a rustle in the bushes behind him.

Rigby raised his 1911 in his right hand and formed a fireball in his left. It seemed a fitting combination.

Before Rigby could shoot, Doug came out of the bushes, hands raised. "Woah, take it easy. Do you always greet guests like this?"

Rigby relaxed a little, but still held his gun raised, "What do _you_ want?"

Doug began, "Well, since you ask... Yesterday, a couple guys from the gang, the Blood Syndicates, got wiped _***KILL* **_out and their kingpin, Dominic, got his hand chopped off," Doug eyed the blood on Rigby's fur, "I'm guessing you wouldn't happen to know anything about it now would you?"

"Never heard of them," Rigby replied.

"Rigby, this is serious. They want revenge. I'm trying to convince them otherwise, but they might come after you." _***Kill***_

"Good," Rigby replied, almost with a type of enthusiasm.

Doug got a little frustrated, "I'm trying to keep things under wraps! I'm not a bad guy, I know what you think they are and I understand where you're coming from, but right now _***He's lying, Kill* **_I'm just trying to keep everything out here from going to complete shit. And there's something worse going on! The Blood Syndicates are one of the biggest gangs in the country, yet something's pushing them out of the city! Something big is going on the North side of town. Whatever it is, I don't want it to reach here, but you can't just slaughter people like this!"

Rigby objected fiercely, "I'm not the one slaughtering people! They were the ones killing! They shot a bunch of innocent people! I only did what was right! I fixed it!"

"...What...? What are you talking about?" Doug seemed stunned, confused even.

"I found the bodies. I followed the trail and it led straight back to their camp!"

"Rigby... they never even touched anyone. They didn't kill those people."

"Yes they did! I saw them! Don't lie to me!" Rigby replied, his M1911 now tightened in his grip. "Besides, why should I trust you? You threatened to hurt people if I didn't leave you alone yesterday!" _***Kill them all***_

"I never said anything like that! I have no idea what you're talking about! I don't know where you're coming up with this from?"

Rigby spoke angrily, "I'm NOT making this up! I know what you said! You're all just a bunch of liars and murderers!" _***Kill***_

_***Kill***_

_***KILL!***_

It required every ounce of Rigby's strength not to pull the trigger. After a minute, Rigby finally said, "I think it's time for you to go..."

Doug backed away slowly, Rigby's gun still traced on him. "Just be careful Rigby, you don't want to do anything you want to regret." With that, Doug left.

Rigby stood alone now. His gun was still tightened in his palm.

"He's lying, I know he is. He's probably with those murderers." 

"_You're right, they're all guilty" _

"I'm not the one whose doing this, they are. They're all messing up. And I'm going to fix it... even if I have to cut through every one of them..."

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait, major writer's block + school. Will get chapters out more often now. What do you think so far? Things are getting complicated for Rigby and Mordecai. And how about Benson and Audrey? Any thoughts? Suggestions? Predictions?**

**Also, don't forget to read my new Silent Hill Cross-over AND "You and Me" chapters will also be coming out sooner. (Pretty soon, things that will be coming up are going to be covered in "You and Me")**


	11. Commander in Chief

"Are you sure about this? I mean after the last time you spoke to the town-"

"Are you doubting me already?" Gene asked sternly.

"N-no," Jeremy answered, "It's just that after the wall, I think these people are the real ones doubting you."

"I'm wouldn't worry too much about the crowd. The secret is the young people: the ignorant, the millennials, all of them. They believe anyone who's talking at that moment. You saw how fired up they were at the wall. Just watch and see how many are against me now and how many will be by the end of the day. And don't worry Jeremy, remember what I told you: you have to learn to be patient. Things won't resolve themselves immediately."

"Then how long?! How long are just going to pretend Chad's death never happened! Doesn't it matter?!"

"How dare you! Under no circumstances are you to touch that boy from the park! I told you things will be resolved, so trust my judgement! Do you hear me!?"

Jeremy looked down, "...Fine."

Gene looked out of the car window. The jeep stopped moving as they arrived in the town center. As planned, the town, our at least the Southern half, were in attendance. There was a large murmur as they rolled up. Some shouting was even heard from several people in the crowd. Oddly enough, many of the disruptive members were young adults and teens.

"Well, we don't want to keep them waiting," Gene said. He and Jeremy stepped out of the Jeep. Suddenly the atmosphere of the mob intensified. Gene took his place on the stage. Jeremy held his rifle as he joined the rest of East Pines' thugs on the ground.

There was a great uproar now, it seemed to be coming from the entire crowd.

"Well I guess that ends our Gene problem," Audrey said. The park crew were all in attendance near the back of the crowd.

"I wouldn't be too certain of that just yet," Benson replied, "Gene's been through worse situations before."

Gene stood patiently waiting on stage. Meanwhile a large array of abuses were being thrown at him. "You promised us we'd make it through this, but not by separating us into ghettos!" one of the people yelled.

"Fencing us off just like the Nazis!" another screamed.

"What about the power?! What do we do without power?!"

Gene finally said, "I understand why you are angry..."

The crowd gradually quieted down. "We couldn't ignore the problem at hand though. Any other man in charge would have tried to cooperate or work around the criminals on the Northern half of this city. Yes, anyone else would have tried, in vain, to take care of the problem indirectly. However, you have seen what was happening. The thieves and murderers were already invading our fair side of the city!"

"I'm not saying what I have done was right, but it was the only option. I don't like the wall as much as you do, but it a necessary evil. If the wall was not built when it was, there would not be much of a city left by now. I have seen the other side. I know what they are capable of. We would not have last."

To Benson's surprise, the crowd slowly began to accept this. They did not full out rally for Gene or like him any more than they did, they just accepted what was done needed to be done.

"What about our families? I have family left on the other side!" someone from the crowd shouted.

Gene cunningly replied, "I understand. I know many of you have loved ones that were left on the other side. That is why I'm going to be honest with you... Not even our stable side of the city is safe-..."

There was the sudden roar of a jet in the distance. Gene stopped as the crowd looked around, searching for a glimpse of the aircraft in the sky.

Muscle Man asked, "Woah, they're still flying planes? I thought the world was over or something."

Benson answered, "It's probably military, but why are they out here?"

As quickly as it came, the noise died. No one did see the aircraft.

Gene continued, "As I said, not even our side of the city is safe. There are no farms, we have no crops nor do we have any animals. We are limited in food, and there are only so much of us. I am proposing four acts. The first, starting today, there will be a city wide registry. You will state to us your name, your address, and how many you are staying with. Every citizen is required to give us this information within the next two days. I know that may seem extreme to many of you, some of you may even be relating me to Hitler. But we need this register so we can begin rationing out supplies."

There was a greater murmur from the assemblage. Most of what was said was disapproval. Gene said, cutting off their idle talk, "Many of you may disagree and some may call me a communist, but it is something we must do. I do not want to see anyone in this city starve or become low on necessities. We need to pull through this by helping everyone out."

"This food will not be handed out freely though. We will require everyone's help. I require at least one member of every group join our police force... There will be rule breakers. There will be trouble makers. We cannot even completely guard the wall. If any of you refuse to comply, that is entirely your choice. However, if you do, you will be on your own for food and supplies."

"However, some of us have stolen away more food than others on that day. Even though I got as many supplies as I could, there is not enough to help the entire city. There may also be people you know on the other side: friends, family. So I have one final proposition... Those who turn in at least 40 pounds of food or medical supplies will be allowed to transfer one person from the North side."

The buzz of the crowd grew immediately. Who could object to such an offer? Food for family? Besides they'd be getting rations anyway.

Jeremy was stunned by Gene. Could he really be serious?

Mordecai instinctively turned to Benson. He didn't have to say anything. Thomas caught on, "Should we?"

Skips shook his head, "I don't trust him. I've lived long enough to see simpler promises betrayed."

"But Margaret's one the other side!" Mordecai exclaimed, "We can't just leave her over there with all this shit going on!"

"I agree with Mordecai, we shouldn't abandon his friend like this," Pops said.

"Woah! What about me?! I've got a cousin over there!" Muscle Man exclaimed.

Skips seemed more level headed, "But we don't even know if he can make this promise! If the other side is just gangs like he said, then Gene is just trying to bluff with us!"

Benson seemed at ends here. He didn't trust Gene, but he did see Mordecai and Muscle Man's side.

But those weren't his family... The Park was his family... And he's not going to risk anything for anybody lesser.

"We do nothing," Benson finally said. "Mordecai, Muscle Man, I'm sorry. I know you have friends over there but we need to worry about this Park right now! I think we barely have enough for food to get one person over, but we need that! I know Gene. He's going to go back on everything he said! I'm sorry, I really am, but we need our supplies..."

The crew had no way to respond. Mordecai was at a loss for words. Realizing there was nothing he could do, he ran off. He left the crowd and headed back on his own. Tears were forming as he ran. He wished he could escape this. He wished none of it were real. Why can't he just escape to his fantasy of ice like he wants?

"Well..." Thomas said after Mordecai left, "Who's it going to be?"

Everyone seemed confused. Thomas explained further, "One of us HAS to join Gene's police. Which one of us is it going to be?"

Benson didn't want anyone else to have the burden, "I'll do it."

Audrey protested, "You can't go, who will be in charge at the park? We need you here."

"No, I'll do it. Nobody else will have to. I've dealt with Gene before. If it should be anyone it should be me!"

"Benson, I really think you should reconsider," Pops said agreeing with Audrey.

"You can't handle both," Skips said, "You have to be in charge. We'll find someone else to join."

Muscle Man stepped up, "I'll handle it!"

Benson seemed a little anxious at this. Everyone else seemed to agree. Benson knew what to expect from Gene, but would Muscle Man be able to handle it? "Are you sure?"

"Heck yeah Bro!" Muscle Man screamed enthusiastically.

High Five Ghost joined in, "I'll join with him." The duo high-fived each other.

"Do you know what you're going yourselves into?" Benson asked.

"It's just walking around a wall. I could do that in my sleep!" Muscle Man said.

So it was decided. All that was left was to register.

Benson said, "Alright, everyone else head back. I've got to register then I'll meet you back at the house."

Benson headed towards the stage as the rest of the park headed home.

"I don't trust him. He's too much of a politician." Benson heard from someone as he walked.

"No, we are not going give up anything!" a mother argued with her teenage son.

"But mom, my girlfriend's over there!"

Elsewhere he heard, "What are you talking about? This is brilliant! He's a better leader than any of us could have been!" Benson's looked to see it was a damn college kid.

Benson arrived to find tables already set up along with guards holding pens and papers recording every bit of information the people were required to say. The lines were horrendously long. At best it seemed like a two hour wait.

"Benson!" Gene said, almost semi-excited to see him. Benson seemed utterly confused with his friendliness. Gene motioned for him to go over to his table.

"Sure beats waiting in lines, doesn't it?" Gene said, "So, how many am I writing down for your group?"

"There's eight of us," Benson replied.

"Is it going to be nine? I've seen that one employee of yours with-"

"Just eight." Benson interrupted.

"Well, Alright... That's it for now, Benson, service recruits are to arrive at noon tomorrow." Gene said motioning for Benson to leave.

"What? What about our address or who's joining?"

Gene chuckled before saying, "Benson it's obvious that I know where you live and I've got you for service. You can head home now."

"But I'm not volunteering..."

"What?!" Gene said in a surprised fashion.

"Two of ours: Muscle Man and High-Five-Ghost"

"B-But what about you? Of all people, I expected you to step up the plate."

"Sorry to disappoint," Benson said as he walked away.

Gene at first was extremely pissed off that Benson wasn't following his expectations, but soon he started chuckling. Benson was such a hard-ass, but he'll make his other two work.

Jeremy finally came over, "What the hell are you thinking? We both live on the same planet right?"

"Jeremy, watch your language. And get back to work!"

Jeremy took him off to the side. He spoke in a whisper, "You and I both know what's on the other side of the wall! There's way too much for us to possibly handle! You know what the Devil Kings has. What on earth makes you think they'll be up for trading?!"

Gene replied, "I know, this arrangement just buys us time. As for the North side... We'll have to deal with them when we can. We're outgunned if they try to attack. I guess you can thank _him_ for that."

Jeremy looked down, "Yeah... Chad was a little too smart for himself... But what happens if we can't work things out? What do we do about the people?"

Gene smiled grimly, "Don't worry about that. Just leave everything to me..."

* * *

The rumbles from Rigby's stomach were getting louder. He felt himself trudging through the woods, exhausted and lethargic. Not to mention he was starting to smell which practically ruined any chance of hunting without getting noticed.

Rigby didn't really have a much of a "home" anymore. He simply had a make-shift shelter made up of a log leaning against a tree with a tarp for a roof and leaves for a bed. It was unbearably cold when he slept. His magic was the only thing keeping him warm at night.

Now Rigby had his gun drawn. He was looking for anything to kill at this point. Squirrel, deer, anything. He was starving.

Suddenly he saw some blood marks on the ground. They smelled and looked fresh. He followed the path, his gun now at the ready.

Rigby could hardly believe his eyes... Around him were four dead bodies. All four were the victims of gunshot wounds. Some of them were still oozing blood. If it weren't for the past three or four days and the fact his stomach was empty, he would have thrown up.

"They've gone too far... They've gone way too far..." Rigby thought to himself. "I have to do something about those bastards or people will keep dying!"

But revenge could wait. He hunched in pain as he clenched his stomach. Rigby needed something to eat.

He noticed that two of the dead had backpacks on. It didn't look like they were looted as their bags seemed undisturbed.

_"Go ahead... Take it..."_

"No. This-... This is wrong."

_"You looted one already."_

"That was different. He was a criminal! But these people..."

"_What's the difference? Dead is dead. Besides, they're not going to miss it anyway."_

It was hard to argue. Rigby reluctantly went to one of the bodies. He slid the backpack off. It was still soaked in blood. Inside, he found more ammo for his M9, not to mention several cans, a box of crackers, and couple bottles of water. The rest he really didn't need.

It was wrong, but at least he wasn't hungry anymore.

He turned and moved on to the next body...

* * *

Benson arrived back at the park. Inside, life went on as usual.

Muscle Man was losing a game of checkers to Fives. In response he ripped his shirt off and flipped the board. In the kitchen, Pops was showing Thomas his rifle and how to use it. Skips was talking with Audrey on the couch. Mordecai was in a haze as he fiddled with the radio without purpose.

As Benson saw this, he felt a little grateful the power went out. Usually everyone would avoid each other through the computer or their cell phones. But at least now they were forced by boredom to interact.

"Muscle Man, Fives: Gene wants you two to show up tomorrow at noon. I'm also guessing that's when they're handing out rations... and put your shirt back on!"

"What are you? My Mooom?!" Muscle Man retorted.

"Unbelievable..." Benson muttered to himself.

"Hey Benson," Thomas called from the kitchen. He was holding Pop's rifle so that it pointed at the ceiling, yet he had his finger on the trigger. "Should I take watch tonight?"

Benson replied, "I don't think anyone should be taking watch. With the way things are, we don't want to get caught. And another thing: watch where your finger is."

Thomas realized his error and took his finger out of the trigger guard, almost pulling it as he did.

Mordecai began to feel a pain in his head. It was worse than any splitting headache he'd felt before. He made his way into the bathroom.

In the mirror he could see his beard was growing and the hair on his head was getting longer. Even without the crown, Mordecai's skin was still getting colder. "Why the hell is this happening to me?! It should've stopped by now!"

His hears were filled with a piercing white noise. He almost collapsed to the ground. He could barely hear anything else. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "It's me," Skips said from the other side.

Mordecai opened the door to see Skips holding something. "I don't like giving you this, but it can't be worse than the way you've been drinking," he said as he held out a bottle of pain pills. Mordecai took the meds, his hand shaking. "Just be careful, too many of them will kill you," he said.

Mordecai nodded. He went over to the mirror and swallowed two of the pills. Suddenly he felt a little better.

Back in the living room, things went on as usual. "So, Audrey," Thomas said, "Just curious, what were you before all this? Like what kind of job?"

"Why the sudden curiosity?" she asked.

"I'm just trying to make conversation. Plus the power's out and I got nothing better to do."

Audrey chuckled a bit before she answered, "I was a nurse before all this. I worked at General Hospital. But then the bombs fell, so now I guess I'm unemployed."

"I think we all are," Benson chimed in, "Now I don't what to do. I woke up this morning worrying about whose going to cut the grass and run the snack shop. Man did I feel stupid."

Thomas added, "Same. This morning I flipped my shit thinking about Mr. Crawford's exam and how I didn't study."

This idle conversation was immediately interrupted by crackle from the radio.

_"Hydra, Hydra, This is**...** Heading to Deadeye**...** Odysseus. Repeat, Odysseus**...** Over and Out." _

"What the hell was that?" Fives asked.

Benson answered, "It's military code. Usually you'd hear things like 'Yankee,' 'Foxtrot,' but they changed up the codes so the Russians are still in the dark. We heard a jet earlier today, so they're probably close by."

"I believe the local airport is still standing. Do you think they're there?" Pops asked.

"So does mean they could help us out?" Thomas asked anxiously.

"No," Benson answered pessimistically, "Usually the Air Force has its own communication network. But they're using broadband radio signals. They haven't used that since the 50's. And if that's true, then that means they got hit. Hard. They probably have barely enough supplies to handle themselves, much less a whole city. Sorry, but I think we're on our own. But I'm still glad we're hearing this."

Muscle Man asked, "So what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we're still kicking... America isn't out yet. The war's still going on and hopefully we're beating the shit out of them. This message just gives me up at least that things will turn around."

Indeed Benson was right, the Air Force was still certainly in for the fight.


End file.
